Team Mom
by Darkanny
Summary: Crashing face first into a lake was not how Leo had planned to end his day. First his best friend not only forgets who he is, but turns out they actually hadn't met before that day; then he had to hold onto a ledge for dear life and a satyr had to save him while Jason kicked ass; then he almost gets kidnapped by some crazy wind guy and overall it was a terrible and amazing day.
1. Chapter 1

Crashing face first into a lake was not how Leo had planned to end his day.

First his best friend not only forgets who he is, but turns out they actually hadn't met before that day; then he had to hold onto a ledge for dear life and a satyr had to save him while Jason kicked ass; then he almost gets kidnapped by some crazy wind guy and overall it was a terrible and amazing day.

The water was freezing, and his trying to hide his 'special' ability kept him from warming himself up. Luckily these people had those cool blowers and his clothes were dry and hair as bouncy as ever in seconds. Although it bothered him a bit when, even after being dry and safe, people kept throwing towels at him and trying to check him for injuries. He had to shake them off and squirm away.

Annabeth was getting shouted at by some blonde Beta about his chariot being destroyed as she tried to pacify him. Then he mentioned something about being claimed. And after some choice words being exchanged with a chick that was most likely the inspiration for Mean Girls, Leo had a flaming hammer over his head; and then he was walking alongside the Beta that had been shouting at Annabeth, Will something.

The tour with Will was amazing. There were weapons and dangerous tools and monsters in the forest. And on the way there, he found out his cabin was cursed! Great, just great. At least it was more comforting than seeing his Tía appear and disappear in camp like an illusion messing with his brain.

Suddenly a smell hit his nose, coming from various directions at once. He stopped and sniffed the air as Will kept talking and walking towards his cabin, not noticing Leo had stopped. The Latino looked around and saw a few faces peeking from some cabins, eyes fixated on him in what could be taken as awe and even _hope_. He scrunched his nose and shook his head, jogging to fall into step with Will.

The blonde looked at him surprised, just now noticing Leo had stayed behind. "What's wrong dude?"

Leo shrugged. "Nothing. Just a bunch of kids looking at me weird"

Will frowned and looked around, seeing the still peeping campers yelp and hide back inside as soon as he faced them. Realization dawned on his face and a small smile stretched his lips.

"Oh, you're an Omega?" He asked conversationally, grinning at Leo.

Said boy grumbled and shoved his hand in his pockets, kicking a rock on his way. "Yeah? What does that matter anyway?"

"Oh no, no! It's nothing bad, it's great, actually!" Will stopped and carefully laid his hands on Leo's shoulders, looking at him up and down with a practiced clinical look. "You're a dominant, aren't you?"

Leo looked up at him from beneath his curls and growled.

"Perfect!" The blonde cheered, slapping his back a bit too strong. "You arrived just in time!"

"Nuh-uh, no way José. Whatever sick plan you have for me you better make it stop, drop and roll cause I just made it go up in flames" Leo shoved him away and stepped back to make some distance. "Just take me to my cabin, please"

Will looked at him concerned before ruffling his hair and nodding. "Sorry. You're right, I got ahead of myself. Your cabin's over there, Jake can tell you more about it once you're there"

Leo hummed, and followed him in.

He was welcomed by a talking mummy, also known as his cabin counselor and spanking new brother—the spanking part being figurative, of course. Jake did not spank him-Jake seemed like a nice guy; even completely wrapped up in bandages Leo could see how he'd been chosen as counselor. A good Alpha he was glad to have as his brother. But the best part was not the super amazing private room he was given, no; it was the mechanic dragon set loose in the forest. He was _so_ going to catch that.

After the cabin, Will had taken him to the forges to meet the rest of his siblings, who had told him more about the dragon and where it most likely was. Now he just needed to find a chance to make his way into the forest and find it. Monsters or not, a few fireballs could send anything away. He'd practiced with enough stupid alphas through the years he was a runaway.

As he went to follow his siblings out and towards the campfire, he noticed the smell from before again, just stronger this time. Sweeter and heavier, like ripe peaches ready to explode in someone's hand. He turned around, frowning, to come face to face with a bunch of kids his age and younger. Upon seeing Leo's frown, they took a step back almost in unison, some whining at him.

The one who looked older, a brunet boy with glasses, stepped forward, dragging his feet. "Um, I…"

"Speak up, kid" Leo said, a bit louder than he intended. The boy flinched.

"I'm Mitchell. Son of Aphrodite" He said, looking up at Leo fleetingly. "We, uh…you are—I mean, I-I'm so sorry. I'll start over"

Leo glared at him for a moment before his face softened. He sighed and ruffled the boy's hair. Mitchell seemed visibly more relaxed afterward, even a little dazzled. "Tell you what; I'm going to the campfire now. Try to get those words into a sentence and come find me, okay?"

Mitchell nodded fervently, smile bigger and eyes shining. The rest of the group behind him started chattering among themselves, excited as some ran away. Leo turned around after making sure they'd all went their ways and made his way to his siblings.

* * *

"Hey Valdez, what's up with the troupe of kids?"

Leo blinked up at Piper, cheeks puffed up from the 's'mores filling them. He swallowed and glanced around, catching sight of the group from before, all huddled together and whispering to each other while occasionally glancing at Leo and grinning. Leo sighed and let his head fall on Piper's lap. The hand petting his hair was instantaneous and greatly appreciated.

"You know the whole deal with Omegas, right? How we subdivide and stuff?"

She shrugged. "Not much. Alphas and Omegas are taught everything about each other; we Betas just get the basics in sex-ed"

"Beauty Queen, I'm from Texas. The only sex-ed I got was a big NO in red marker. Lots of exclamation points. Double underlined. Internet saved my life on that aspect" Leo moved his body to lie more comfortably against her. "Okay, so there are two kinds of Omegas; dominants and submissives. Care to guess which one I am?"

"A little shit like you? I'd say dominant" She laughed, flicking his nose.

Leo chuckled and slapped her hand away playfully. "Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner!" He said, waving his hands. "I'm a dominant, which automatically makes me some sort of 'mom' for subs. The normal thing is that they gravitate towards me, wanting to form a pack with me as the caretaker" He paused to shove another 's'more into his mouth, swallowing quickly. "Now, at my age I should already have a pack, but with all the running away from foster homes, I got used to being alone and never settled down. And I don't know if you noticed but everyone at Wilderness School were Alphas or Betas. Normal Omegas don't get into the kind of messes I do"

"I can believe that"

"The thing is" He continued. "It seems there are only submissives in here, and having such a big number of them together without a dominant tends to make them shyer, so they hide away. They were all looking at me from their cabins when we arrived"

"And it's the first time they get out in weeks, actually" Will sat down next to him, using Leo's legs to prop his plate of biscuits. "We had a dominant, my brother Michael, but he disappeared during the Titan War in Manhattan" His voice got lower at the end, and Leo shot up to sit straight, laying his hand on top of Will's.

"I'm sorry" Leo said softly, almost a whisper as his thumb rubbed Will's hand. The blonde smiled at him gratefully and squeezed his hand back before letting go. Leo stayed close to him, unconsciously warming up to offer better comfort.

Will hummed and leaned a bit closer, letting the warmth soak into his arm. "Thank you. You know, you'd be a good mom"

"Whoa there. I barely know you, dude" Leo laughed, patting his face.

"Not like that" The blonde assured, laughing as well. "I mean, in the pack sense. Since Michael went away…it's been hard for them. They're scared and confused. We have to bring them food to their cabins to make sure they don't starve. Having you here will be good for them"

Leo looked away, silent. He looked at Piper for help. She looked like she agreed with Will, obviously noticing how Leo had switched to comfort Will as soon as he showed signs of stress. It was a good trait in dominants and not even years of isolation had taken it away from him.

The Latino bit his lip and looked at the kids, how they were close enough to feel safe and act like they probably hadn't since the war; happy and confident and interacting with other campers. He felt his gut coil and his hold on Will's hand tightened before letting go.

Piper patted his back softly as he stood and walked towards the group.

* * *

Leo fucked up. Big time. This was not part of the plan.

He had meant to just approach the group and have a small chat, maybe get to know them better for future reference. A prophecy had been discussed during the campfire and him, Piper and Jason had agreed on going, and it was at that point that the Omegas had surrounded him and clung so hard Leo thought his shirt would rip apart.

Most of the talking had been done by Leo. Low and slow and soft while the kids listened, lulled into a sense of security by his voice as they cuddled into a pile, watching Leo fumble with his ever-present pipe cleaners. He'd made a little toy out of them for every boy and girl in the group as he asked things about them; how long they'd been there, their godly parents, their hobbies.

He felt really comfortable.

He almost regretted going to bed, but after making a round to drop them one by one in their respective cabins, he'd all but dropped dead asleep on his bed.

The first stage of forming a pack was bonding, and Leo had finished that part in a single night.

He realized this in the middle of breakfast the next day, when Malcolm had hugged him tightly on his way to the Athena cabin and Leo complied easily. The second he was conscious of it, he stopped chewing his cereal and his spoon had clattered against the bowl as it fell from his hand.

He spent the next three days locked up in his room.

It was Nyssa who finally got him out, when no one could stand Jason moping around anymore because Leo wasn't there and they _really_ needed to go out and finish the quest. Also someone mentioned lightly something about Lacy not wanting to leave her bed anymore since Leo wasn't around either. Leo agreed to go out but immediately took off to the forest.

He came back later that night, riding the lost dragon—now almost fully repaired and with shiny new wings—,covered head to toe in oil, dirt and scratches, and sporting a nice new belt around his waist. Not even the fire-spitting dragon was enough to keep away the pile of Omegas that fell on top of him as soon as he slid down from the dragon's neck.

"Oh m gods, where were you!?"

"Are you alright? Every limb in its place?"

"Don't do that, you asshole!"

Will and his siblings had to pry them off Leo to help him get up. Victoria was particularly hard to unlatch but they finally managed. Jason had rushed in to help Leo up, only to have his hand slapped away.

"I can stand up myself, Prince Charming" Leo huffed, dusting his clothes as if the sudden attack had dirtied him more than his finding, fixing and taming a dragon. Just in time a torrent of oil dribbled down the metallic maw, cascading on Leo like a rain of molasses. He didn't look all that off-put by it. "Well then, I got us transport! How about we go free Lady Queen of Whatever so we can get some actual camp experience, hm?"

Piper walked up to them, snorting as she ruffled Leo's curls. "You could've had the experience already if you didn't hole up in your room for half a week"

"Three days are _not_ a half a week, even I know that"

"Well it sure felt like one!"

"Guys, guys!" Jason put a hand on their shoulders, separating them a bit when Leo's upper lip started to draw back in what looked an awful lot like a snarl. "You're both right, and wrong, but we should _really_ get going now. I know Annabeth would like to get her boyfriend back and the sooner we find Hera, the better"

Piper and Leo had turned to look at him as he spoke, a look of deep contemplation in their faces. They stared at each other and seemed to reach a consensus when Piper caught Jason's neck and brought his head down for Leo to deliver a noogie.

"Gods, blondie, you're such a dork!" Piper laughed as Jason struggled in her arms. He finally seemed to give up and laugh as Leo's hands dug into his hair, hissing a bit from the knuckles rubbing his scalp. For such a small boy Leo sure had blacksmith's hands.

"Alright losers, let's get up and going!" Leo said as he released Jason and hurried to climb back on the dragon. "Festus Airlines ready to depart, please buckle your belts and keep all limbs inside the dragon at all times"

"Festus?" Jason snorted as he climbed and helped Piper up. "We're gonna save the Queen of Gods on Happy the dragon?"

"You bet your ass we will!"

Festus' teeth spun in excitement as a tower of flames erupted from his mouth, and with a flap of his new wings they were airborne. Leo managed to cast a last glance at the Omegas that had piled on him not a moment ago, and tried not to acknowledge Malcolm's little wave of goodbye.

He nodded in their direction once, a barely there movement, and the group dissolved.


	2. Chapter 2

Ice goddesses, cyclopes, witches, crazy kings with a gold thirst worse than Thorin Oakenshield's, wolves and giants were more than enough for Leo's first ever quest, thank you very much.

To say he was glad to be back at camp was a misunderstanding. The whole 'becoming councelor' thing was unexpected but hey, he was Leo McFreaking Valdez. It was destiny. As was having a 9 year old daughter of Demeter clinging to his shirt as he walked to the pavilion, it seemed.

"Laurel, you're gonna crumple iiiit" Leo whined, dragging his feet to his table as the little girl followed suit, climbing into the seat next to him and gluing herself to his side. Leo was still too asleep to do more than wrap an arm around her shoulders as two bowls of cereal appeared on the table.

He had stayed up until gods-know-what-hour last night, finishing up the last details of the blueprints of his ship. It was gonna be the most awesome ship in the universe and it had to be _perfect_. Unfortunately breakfast had a schedule and he didn't want to miss his only chance of the day to get his Trix fix.

"You're not eating only that, are you?" He mumbled, looking at Laurel as she finished her cereal and was about to jump away to her sister calling her from the Demeter table. She looked up at him with big brown eyes and looked carefully at the food on the table before picking up a banana from a fruit bowl. Leo hummed approvingly and she smiled a gap-toothed smile as she ran off.

Having a pack was weird. Being a runaway for most of his late childhood made him adapt to being on his own, and having a Beta mom raising him in an almost neutral environment quelled his instincts. Now that he had been blessed/cursed with his own little pack, he had had to train himself back to listen to his gut again.

He had even turned a corner of the Bunker into a nest of sorts; soft carpet and pillows strewn all over the place, with a chest filled with quilts and duvets and a central fireplace that was always raging and heating up the place. Which was useful since he spent so much time with his siblings in there, working on the Argo II—how cool was that, they even had their own Jason-, and Leo could keep an eye on his _kids_ while they trained or rested from injuries.

Jason slid into the seat Laurel had vacated and pushed one of his slices of toast in Leo's mouth. He was still so tired he just hummed around the bread stuffing his cheeks. Piper appeared from the other side and subtly slid a mug of coffee in front of him. Leo picked it up like an automaton and managed to remember to swallow what was on his mouth before downing the drink in one go, spilling most of it on his chest. Piper and Jason winced at the waves of steam rising from his shirt from the scalding water, but Leo was unfazed.

"A mother at 15. My mom must be so proud" He mumbled, opening one sleep-crusted eye and putting the mug down, casually setting his chest on fire to evaporate most of the mess. How his clothes didn't burn away, he didn't know.

"I'm sure she is" Piper laughed, rubbing his back. Leo arched against her hand, an almost inaudible purr tickling her hand. "Annabeth says it's been a while since they've looked so at ease since the war"

"You, on the other hand, look like crap" Jason added. And it was partially true. Leo spent so much time working that his sleeping schedule was completely fucked up, and he was pretty sure the last time he drank actual water was when Jason had to dunk them in the river to un-gold them during the quest.

A mango hit the back of Jason's head and he howled, holding the attacked spot with both hands. The trio turned to find Cecil glaring daggers at him, an apple in his hand as if preparing for the next attack. Then he realized the Hermes cabin was within earshot and that Cecil was indeed part of Leo's pack.

"Sorry! I meant that you look lovely, absolutely radiant, the grime really brings out your eyes" The blond glanced back at the son of Hermes to see him nodding slowly, putting the fruit down but still within reach before turning back to the Stoll twins who were trying very hard not to spit their waffles from laughing. "Geez, your kids are nuts"

"Don't call them that, it's weird" Leo said as his bowl filled with cereal again, dunking the chocolate bits with his spoon. "Cecil is older than me"

And yet he was the first to fall face first into the cuddle pile when Leo took a break from the ship. It was really funny to see because he was also like 4 inches taller and covered Leo completely when curling around him. Leo had to wrestle him down to make space for the rest.

After Piper promised to take lunch to the Bunker later so he could put invest some time in showering, he took off towards the forest, Shane joining him on the way.

* * *

"How am I supposed to block anything with this butter knife?!" Piper shouted as she tried to dodge the slashes Jason was throwing her way. Katoptris was indeed way too short to use as anything but a dagger, but still Jason had convinced her to spar with him. Thus far she'd managed to deviate one of his hits and dodge the rest, but the knife wasn't doing much.

"Hey, it wasn't me who chose your weapon!" Jason kept coming at her, his sword moving as if it weighted way less than Piper knew it did. "Couldn't you speak me into losing? That'd be useful in real life"

"This is real life, and that's cheating!"

The training grounds were quite crowded that day. The sun was shining more than usual and the heat made everyone try to find relief outside under the trees. It seemed like the entire Ares cabin had decided to use the heat as means of an extra workout, because they were pretty much all there except for Clarisse who had delayed her arrival at camp in favor of a family meeting.

There were some of Will's siblings running laps around the arena, energized to the max with the sun and seemingly never stopping; some other kids from cabin 6 were in the seats, catching up in their summer reading or practicing sword moves while muttering the steps from the weapons guide like Annabeth was doing with her own dagger. She'd been training extra with weapons since the quest for Hera was completed, knowing that the time until they found Percy would be closing in now that the responsible for his disappearance was free.

Piper managed to use the blade of her knife to hit Jason's wrist when he was raising his arms for a downwards blow when they heard the rough hit and drag of someone being thrown to the ground, followed by a low groan and shuffling. At first most thought it was just someone falling after getting hit during a spar, but then it happened again, louder and with a loud whine instead.

They dropped their weapons and turned to find Malcolm on the ground, trying to get free from the foot firmly planted on the side of his head, pinning him down. The son of Ares holding him down, Mark, was easily one of the most problematic boys in camp and apparently hadn't found it funny that a son of Athena, an Omega at that, dared to train in the same space as him.

Annabeth jumped down from her seat, yelling at him to let her brother go as she waved her knife at him. One of Mark's brothers raised his sword and stopped her midway, holding the cutting edge towards her chest. She snarled at him and was about to try and stick her dagger in his wrist when Jason's sword knocked the boy's sword out of his hand.

In that time Mark had changed his foot from Malcolm's head to his chest, pinning him down as the point of his sword touched the boy's cheek, threatening to dig in. Malcolm's whines were turning louder and of higher pitch by the second, and the initial wave of stress pheromones were starting to coat the arena. More people got up to see better what was going on as Jason reacted to the stress call and growled at the other Alpha, kicking away the sword he'd just knocked away from Annabeth and making her step back.

He couldn't do more than step halfway through, however, when an orange and brown blur shot out of absolutely nowhere and knocked the son of Ares to the ground and at least 5 feet away from Malcolm. Annabeth ran to her brother as Leo tried to bring down his hammer on Mark's face, the latter barely managing to block it with the hilt of his sword.

"Get this bitch off me!" Mark shouted at his siblings between blows, unable to flip Leo off him by himself with how firmly the Omega was holding down his legs with his own.

Some tried to get closer to snatch Leo up but he would yowl and swipe at them, even side-kicking one with enough force that their kneecap gave a crack before they crumpled to the ground. Leo kept hammering away, trying to get a clean shot at his face or chest while keeping his eyes on Jason as he walked up to them.

"Leo, calm down" He said, lowering himself and his sword to the ground, not breaking eye contact as Leo changed tactics and tried to wrangle Mark's sword from his hands, throwing the hammer at Jason to do so. The blond dodged the tool and kept getting closer, even when Leo started growling and spitting curses in Spanish at him and whoever other Alpha that approached him.

Suddenly Malcolm whined again and Leo moved so fast no one had time to catch him as he ran to the boy in Annabeth's arms. She knew enough not to put herself on the way and slowly and carefully let go of her brother as Leo watched her with the eyes of a hawk, pupils dilated and nostrils flaring as he made a show of baring his teeth and curling his upper lip. Once she was far enough, Leo picked up Malcolm and sat down with him on his lap, curling around him until he was practically covered from the outside world.

The growl that had been consistently sprouting from the Latino's throat softened into a purr as his big, warm hands rubbed circles on the blonde's back, soothing him down as he patted softly where his head had been stepped on.

Jason had been stuck watching the scene, and didn't notice Piper was near him until she touched his shoulder. He jumped and swirled around, blinking back into reality from the pheromone high as he saw how the Ares kid orderly herded themselves out of the arena, the rest of the campers following suit although in a much more conscious way.

"I thought charmspeaking was cheating?" Jason asked her, smiling and raising an eyebrow at her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Piper wrapped her own arm around his waist, shrugging. "This is real life, it's useful"

He laughed and swatted her forehead softly. They watched how Leo was already uncurling himself from Malcolm, speaking softly to him as the blond nodded at whatever Leo was saying. Annabeth was making her way out of the arena herself, still keeping an eye on her brother but knowing that now that Leo was there it was a matter of leaving them alone for a while until Malcolm calmed down and there wasn't much she could do afterwards.

Leo looked up at them, calmer eyes lingering on Jason for a while before switching to Piper, nodding at them that it was fine if they left with the rest. Piper gave him a thumbs up before motioning for Jason to follow her out.

The sun was still shining, they'd be fine.


	3. Chapter 3

Mark and his brother who had held Annabeth back, Sherman, had been put on stable cleaning duties for the rest of the year, and it sufficed to say the pegasi didn't exactly like them any more than the rest of the campers did. Who knew how much control the winged horses had over their bowels? And if that wasn't enough Clarisse had teared them a new one after she'd gotten the news at her arrival.

Malcolm had calmed down after a couple of hours and had spent the rest of the day in the Bunker while the Hephaestus cabin worked on the skeleton of the ship. Annabeth had insisted on accompanying them both to make sure her brother was all right and to oversee the building of the ship. She had to admit, Leo might be the poster child for ADHD, but his calculations and planning were flawless.

Piper, who had convinced Jason that being part of the Big Prophecy meant they had to put their part in as well, had joined them with the son of Jupiter trailing behind. There wasn't much they could do about building—Leo and his siblings had that part more than covered—but there was still much to do regarding strategies, gathering supplies and most important, a way to get to Camp Jupiter to gather Percy and who had to be the two other members of the prophecy.

Although, Piper and Annabeth noticed that Jason seemed a bit antsy, particularly when other campers started showing up, offering to help. Lou Ellen had showed up with the idea of helping set up tricks and spells around the ship once it was done to confuse and send off enemies and monsters, and Travis seemed very eager in planning travel routes. There was also Clovis who, despite being more asleep than awake most of the time, proved to be really useful when the cabin 9 kids entered a building trance and would not stop moving until knocked down. Leo himself had to be forced to fall asleep after Shane realized he hadn't gone to bed in the last four days.

Piper absently noted that all of the new helpers were Alphas.

Turns out that yes, they were there with the main intention of helping them set everything up, but also after that little display of Leo in the arena, most had wanted to check for themselves how the pack worked. Michael had never had any problems with anyone during his time at camp, so to see the violent-protective side of a dominant was intriguing to say the least.

Jason had at some point unconsciously taken the role of being Leo's Alpha, not in the mating sense but more in a pack way; it tended to happen pretty often with close friends and it gave the group a semblance of family. The fact that Leo completely ignored that there were so many potential suitors around put Jason on edge. He watched them all like a hawk—or eagle would be more appropriate, all things considered—making sure hands stayed either on the ship or to themselves, and stepping up with his hand inconspicuously on the hilt of his sword when Connor caged Leo against the table from behind to 'get a better look at the map'. Because Leo was great at not realizing people throwing hints his way, but he was even worse than Jason when it came to his own pack.

When Clovis had 'conveniently' fallen asleep with his head against Mitchell's shoulder, or when Lou insisted on teaching Cecil first-hand how to stir the mix for the batch of flash and smoke bombs she was making. There were way more occasions than he could count or remember, but that they had the _gall_ to step up to _his_ Bunker, into the safe haven of _his_ kids and try so unashamedly to court them while he was too busy to make sure nothing bad happened to them? Oh, Leo had a few fireballs with their names written on them.

Nothing that Will couldn't apply a balm to, as it was later proven when Travis had gone too far and scared Malcolm—Malcolm, who just so happened to be less than a week away from his last panic attack—and Leo had reacted without thinking and burned his ass off the Bunker and into the forest. That was enough to send a message, it seemed, because everyone was very well behaved afterwards.

It was a few months before the Argo II was ready in all her splendor; two hundred feet long, bronze hull, oars, crossbows and good ol' Festus as the masthead, roaring in joy at seeing the light of day once again. Leo felt like he could retire from building anything again; there was just no way he could top this baby.

As soon as the ship was out and ready to sail, Leo was dragged off to his empty cabin by all his kids. They were in there a good two hours before he was let go, face red and eyes bloodshot and his clothes crumpled and smelling like sadness for those with keen noses.

He was the last one to aboard, and once he reached his spot at the control panel, Festus threw a pillar of fire into the sky as the ship took off. The second time in less than a year that they left like that, and Leo didn't even know if he would return.

* * *

Leo had started to feel bad halfway through the trip: nauseous and heavy and with shivers running up and down his spine; but it didn't keep him from noticing how huge Camp Jupiter was. New Rome reminded Leo of those cities he used to build back at home with his Legos when he was still too young to help his mom in the workshop.

The city was great and all, but it was more Annabeth style to drool over some pretty buildings. Leo was much more interested in finding out if this Terminus guy was actually just a talking statue or if there was some hidden mechanism in him. Because if it was he would dismantle it and turn it into a toaster because the statue had just insulted his ship _no one called his ship a monstrosity._

"Greeks in my city! Oh, what have we come down to" The god-statue shook his head, looking with disgust at the crew of the Argo. "And you, Jason Grace, I thought you had an actual brain in that head full of wind of yours!"

"Terminus, calm down please" Jason replied. "We're here for official business, just let us through and we'll be out before you notice"

"Well, I've already noticed!"

He wouldn't let the ship through the city limits and Annabeth was shaking, so close yet so far to meeting Percy again after so many months of him being traded like a common action figure with Jason.

"Do you have anything against us leaving the ship afloat?" She asked him, trying for a firm posture and turning on her negotiating voice. "We wouldn't be touching Roman ground with any weapons"

As if on cue, Leo swished his Wii remote controllers and the ship stopped in mid-air, not a creak of a plank as it stilled.

Terminus seemed to be at a loss of words. "Well…uh, it _works_ , technically but-"

"We'll leave our weapons on board as well. Nothing goes through the Pomerian Line; just us down the ladder" Annabeth added for good measure.

The statue seemed to be thinking it through when he finally sighed and nodded. "Very well. You can go down now. Just try to not destroy my city"

If the Greek demigods ever thought camp Half Blood was crowded, it seemed like a deserted picnic zone compared to this. People came from everywhere; buildings, houses, cafés. Kids and adults alike, wearing togas and jeans with swords hanging from their belts. They looked at the newcomers with a mix of curiosity and wariness. They couldn't be blamed though; it was clear how recent the last attack to the city had been. The streets were littered with pieces of concrete, marble and debris, and many buildings had their roofs caved in or walls blown off. Some were even decimated to piles of white brick.

Leo was too busy gawking at the huge cyclops guy waving happily at them with the winged girl on his shoulder to notice anything else, but the next thing he knew Annabeth had flipped a black haired guy over her shoulder and now he was laughing his heart out while she held him down with a knee to the chest. Jason had approached a girl who exuded so much authority that Leo had trouble recognizing she was a Beta and not an Alpha who could easily break bone with her bare hands, because she really looked like it and Jason was short of bowing at her. Leo decided he liked this girl.

Introductions were made and the girl—Reyna, called forth someone. A group of people came forward from the crowd and two of them stood next to Percy like old friends. They scanned their group and suddenly a pair of golden eyes settled on Leo almost like one of Jason's bolts had struck the girl they belonged to. As if on cue the other guy, a burly teen with a baby face, turned to stare at him as well, a look of confusion preceding one of realization. Now both of them kept staring at him and frankly Leo was getting a bit creeped out. His stomach churned and a cold sweat broke on his neck, but like when he felt bad in the ship, he let it pass.

Reyna was giving orders to the others in an authoritative and yet agreeable voice, as if she didn't need to scare them to make them understand; and then a skinny blonde guy was shoving everyone out of his way as he walked forward.

"Reyna you can't be serious" He said, frowning and staring at the Greeks with obvious disgust. "Inviting these _Graeci_ into camp is not safe!"

"They will not enter the camp, Octavian" Reyna replied, flooring him with a glare. "We're staying here at the forum"

Octavian sneered, looking up at the ship stationed above them. He made some choice comments about the intruders and their ship, and then Reyna and Percy sent him off. The son of Poseidon really seemed to enjoy the authority a simple purple sheet gave him around here.

"Don't worry about him, not all Romans are like that. Frank and Hazel are cool" Percy said, taking Annabeth's hand and guiding her inside.

Leo and the rest of the crew followed, the Romans closing the line behind them, and still he could feel a penetrating pair of eyes on the back of his neck. He felt the swirl of nausea in his head and stomach again and a shiver ran down his spine, but he ignored it. An aspirin and maybe a big bowl of chicken soup and he'd be fine again.

* * *

The things he did for his friends, really.

"And this is the mast. It's a biiiig pole of wood. We use it to move, see? The wind hits the sail and—wha-what are you doing man?"

After Leo had 'offered' to show Octavian the ship so he'd calm down and maybe shut up if he was lucky, he'd been pretty much just walking on eights, explaining everything in the same words he would use with little kids back at Long Island when asked about his inventions. He'd set the goal to piss him off in the shortest time possible but thus far Octavian had just followed him around, not saying a word. And now when Leo turned around, he came face to face with the blond, way too close for comfort and moving his face like…was this dude _sniffing him_?

Octavian narrowed his eyes, but didn't step away. "What are you?"

Leo blinked at him. "Uh…a demigod? Hi, Leo Valdez, nice to meet you" he offered his hand for added effect.

He was answered with a roll of the other's eyes. "Not that. What _are_ you?" He sniffed him again, not the air or anything around him; _him_ , almost actually burying his nose in his neck.

"Whoa there, a bit of space over here" Leo rushed to push him back, keeping him at arm's distance. "What, you don't have Omegas around here?"

Octavian tilted his head. "We don't"

Leo blinked in surprise again. "Say what now"

He had noticed the city had a sort of heavy air to it, something that screamed sweat and blood and testosterone that not even the river coursing through it could wash away, but he'd assumed it was just that this guys liked to train too much and shower too little. Octavian's dirty toga was enough proof of the latter. But that there were no Omegas? Now that was ridiculous.

"What, you throw them in the river when they're born, Prince of Egypt style?" Leo was resting against the mast now, hands behind his back as he fumbled with a loose piece of wire.

"No, they are just not born from our blood" Octavian said, looking at him curiously, like he was at the zoo and watching an animal that didn't quite meet his expectations. "We're too strong to have your kind of genes in us"

Leo stiffened and growled. "Are you calling me weak?"

Octavian shrugged. "I've never seen children of Vulcan fight. They're always inside, hammering at something. And I've also never seen an Omega without and Alpha to take care of them" He placed a hand on Leo's hip, right on the small space left clear by the magical tool belt, and as soon as he did Leo gripped his arm and ripped it away from himself, snarling.

"I don't need anyone taking care of me"

Leo had now crossed his arms across his chest, standing straight and trying to make himself look bigger, which was a feat at his notorious height of 5'6 against Octavian's 6 feet of lanky Roman. He could tell the Roman had been just testing the waters, trying to see if it was true that he was as capable as he claimed. There was nothing in the air or in his body language that said he'd been planning otherwise, but Leo stuck his nose up in defiance anyway. No bad intentions didn't mean he could just up and touch him like that.

Octavian acknowledged the message and looked almost amused by it. He took a step back and looked around, walking away to the other side of the deck. "What do you have over there?"

Leo followed, still with his arms crossed as a sudden cold sensation wrapped his entire body. "The control panel. You wanna play with the helm a bit or nah?"

He walked next to one of the crossbows, and suddenly his mind was blank.

* * *

Leo felt like crying.

Firing away at New Rome was _not_ part of the plan, and yet he'd suddenly lost consciousness of every action he took and the catapults were firing and his ship was being attacked back and then he was on the floor, Percy holding him down as Annabeth flew the ship away from the mess he'd caused.

He couldn't see the city in flames as the ship got farther and farther away, but he could smell the smoke and hear the shouts of troops trying to make order. This was the second time he destroyed something for a reason completely out of his control, but it didn't make him feel any less guilty knowing he honestly couldn't stop his body from moving, even if his mind was completely conscious as he loaded and fired the ballistae.

His head hurt from when he hit the deck after being taken down, and his eyes stung with the tears he refused to let free. He wondered why no one was coming to cheer him up when he remembered he was not at camp and his pack was nowhere nearby. That had been a sad moment for everyone, when the crew left and Leo was being held back by several pairs of hands holding his suspenders and keeping him still as they said goodbye, with a lot of tears and a healthy amount of snot from the littlest ones.

But now he was very, very far away from them. His best friend had been knocked out cold with a brick and now he couldn't explain himself to Annabeth and that guy Frank was just there and he _wouldn't stop staring why didn't he stop-_

"What do you mean you couldn't control yourself?" Annabeth asked, with a look that said she'd kick him out of the quest before they even left the country if she could. "What happened up here, did Octavian—"

"He didn't do anything" Leo cut her short. "He's an asshole but it was all me, alright?" He sighed, covering his face with his hands. "I don't know, I could feel myself moving but I couldn't do anything to stop myself, I'm sorry" His voice was muffled and most likely hard to understand, but at least it masked the sobs that he couldn't swallow back. Or so he hoped.

"And that's it?" Frank asked, frowning.

"Yes! Yes that is indeed it, Beast Boy!" Leo snapped, glaring at the new guy. A few tears escaped and trailed down his face and Frank took a step back, surprised. "It was…it was cold and…"

"Cold?" Annabeth whispered, rubbing her arms absently, as if remembering something.

Leo was so tired, he just nodded and rubbed his eyes with the hem of his shirt. Percy called out from the sickbay for Annabeth and Leo felt his blood run cold in a much different way than before.

"Is Jason…?"

"He'll be fine" She assured him, hesitating a bit before squeezing his shoulder once. "He's tough, don't worry. Frank" She turned to the Roman. "Stay with him please" Watch him, she meant, don't make him do anything else stupid. Leo didn't know what hurt more, than she trusted more a guy she'd just met or that she wouldn't even say what she really meant around him.

She went below deck, and suddenly Leo was all alone with this huge Alpha who looked like a marshmallow bear who could break his jaw with his pinky. And he _did_ just destroy his home so maybe the idea wasn't that far off.

"So" Oh gods there it comes. "Your name isn't Sammy?"

Leo blinked, then snorted. "What? No man, I'm Leo"

Frank opened his mouth in an 'o', and then they were silent again. Leo sighed and stood from where he'd been sitting slumped against the mast, wobbling a bit when his head hurt at the movement. Frank helped him up and held his arm until Leo stabilized himself.

"Thanks" He said, patting the taller teen's hand to tell him he could let go now. Frank did so, slowly, and kept an eye on him just in case as Leo stretched his arms to the sky to pop his spine and hips back into place. "I should go check the damage report, and I suppose you'd want to come since, y'know, you're supposed to make sure I don't fuck up anything else"

"I don't think she meant it like that" Frank said, surprising Leo. The Roman himself was frowning slightly, looking off to the side as if thinking her words through. "She seemed more scared than angry to me"

Leo stared at him for a second and then nodded slowly. "So…you don't blame me for destroying your home?"

To his surprise, Frank smiled a little. "I honestly don't think it was you. You don't look like the kind of person to go around firing at cities just because" He scratched the back of his head. "Besides, you seemed pretty out of it when we got aboard" He seemed to remember something at that and stepped closer to Leo. "How's your head? Percy hit you pretty hard when he threw you down"

Leo took a couple of steps backwards, avoiding the mast as he walked the well-known path towards the aft. "It's fine, don't worry about it" He kept walking backwards, not taking Frank out of his sight as the Canadian followed after him. "I just need to go talk to Festus and—"

"Festus?"

* * *

"Festus" Leo announced, opening his arms in the most grandiloquent gesture he could manage.

Frank was staring in awe at the dragon, or at least what was left of it. Sensing the newcomer, Festus' head swiveled around and blinked at Frank, who yelped and jumped back. "It's alive?!"

" _He_ is my baby. Nothing but the best of engineering for him" Leo turned to the screen connected to Festus, reading the damage report.

"How did you—why a dragon? Aren't mermaids supposed to be the norm with ships?"

"I don't know if you're noticed, Big Guy, but this is not a normal ship" Leo said. "Besides, dragons are awesome, and not all of us can turn into one at will"

He heard Frank chuckle behind him and allowed himself a little smile, knowing the other wouldn't see it. He finished reading the damages and hummed. "Not too bad, all things considered. We're gonna need some materials" As Leo listed off what he would be needing, Festus cracked his mouth open and squeaked a noise. "Uh...? Oh, _Haaazel_ "

Frank jumped. "Hazel? Can he see her? Is she alright?"

"Down, boy. She's following us on her freaky horse" Leo calmed him down. His voice softened without him noticing. "Is she your mate?"

"Uh, more like just girlfriend, at the moment. She's too young to…" He seemed at a loss, and Leo patted his arm.

"I understand, don't worry" Frank smiled gratefully at him and Leo returned an uncertain smile of his own. Damn, he needed to tone down the Mother Tone. "I'll have to find some stuff to fix the ship and—"

The stairs creaked with steps behind them, and they turned to see Annabeth and Percy climbing up. Leo immediately felt his hairs stand on end at the way Percy was looking at him. Annabeth looked a bit calmer, if serious.

He decided to push his instincts aside and turned his attention to the blonde. "Is Jason alright?"

"Still out cold, but he'll live. Piper's with him" She assured, and Leo released a breath of relief.

Percy stepped up to him and diverted Leo's attention to himself. "Is it true then? _You_ fired the ballista?"

His growl had Leo tense, and once again, like he'd done with Octavian, he tried to make himself look bigger. "I-I didn't mean to, I said I was sorry—"

" _Sorry_?" Percy growled, a stormy sea reflecting in his eyes. Annabeth held him back with a hand and leveled him with a single look.

"We'll talk about this later" She turned to Leo, whose legs were trembling like jelly. "What's the ship's state?"

"Needs a few repairs. I need some materials but—" The sound of Festus whirring called his attention, and he had an excuse to turn away to the glare Percy was still throwing his way. He sighed in relief. "Gracias, dios mío. Frank?"

"Yeah?"

"Turn into a bird or something and go find your girlfriend. Tell her to go to Great Salt Lake"

* * *

After somehow managing to splashdown the ship, Leo made to go downstairs to leave the ship, when he came face to face with a huge brown horse and his curly haired rider on deck.

"What the—How did you get here on that?!"

"Arion is not a _that_ " She said amiably. "But answering your question, he can run across water and walls and anything, really" She smiled at him, still with that strange glint in her eyes, just like back at New Rome.

Leo couldn't have told before, with how heavy the scents were in the Roman forum, and just looking at her he couldn't have told, but getting a good shot at her he realized this little pretty girl was an Alpha as well.

Wait.

A pretty alpha was staring him down. Frank's pretty Alpha girlfriend. Two Alphas, together.

Leo looked away, his throat tight. He pushed down whatever thought had invaded him. Hazel was off limits, she was with Frank…and yet, Frank was…

 _Big and soft and looked so warm._

He shook his head and breathed deeply. _This is just a coincidence, it doesn't mean anything Leo, stay away._

Leo looked back at Hazel, who was looking around curiously as she dismounted her horse. She still stole some glances at him and Leo decided it was better to just act normal. He clasped his hands together and bounced on his toes.

"So, Hazel, can I offer you a tour?"


	4. Chapter 4

After completing the arduous task of showing Hazel around the ship, the group gathered at the lounge to discuss what the next step was, now that they were all together and…uh…in a relatively safe place; or at least safe compared to Camp Jupiter after Leo's little stunt.

Said demigod took a little detour on the way there, glancing into Jason's room. Piper offered him a nod in reassurance that the blond would be alright. Jason was snoring away, an ice pack on his forehead. Leo nodded back at her, swallowing down the bile rising up his throat. He closed the door and followed Hazel into the lounge.

The sights of Camp Half-Blood welcomed them from the walls as they entered. Percy was staring longingly at them, and Leo remembered that it had been nearly half a year since Percy had last seen his camp since Hera's swap. Almost as much as it had taken Leo to build the ship. If he wasn't so utterly terrified of Percy—he'd heard the stories, after all-, he would've tried to crack a joke to steal a smile from his face, but he honestly felt like approaching the son of Poseidon at the moment would make his blood boil, fire powers be damned.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Percy asked, finally tearing his eyes away from the Golden Fleece hanging from Thalia's tree.

Frank was fiddling with his bow, producing a little sound that had Leo's head bopping to it. "The whole reason we're here is the prophecy. Do we even know what it means at all?"

"My bet is we know as much as the Romans" Leo said, jumping into the nearest chair. Jason's sword was still strapped to the holder on the side. He'd never thought he'd need it. "No offense to, uh, the Romans present"

Frank shrugged. Hazel dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand.

"Yes, the prophecy needs to be deciphered for it to work, but it's useless if we can't move" Annabeth paced along the table. "Leo, what do you need to fix the ship?"

Leo tapped the armrest of his chair, spelling the alphabet in Morse absentmindedly. "Tar. We can find it in the city. And lime and celestial bronze. Festus found a deposit of both in that island over there"

"We need to hurry" Hazel said. "Who knows how much time we have until Octavian finds us"

A crisp scent reached her. Subtle, like ripe apples crushed with a tennis racket. She, Frank and Percy turned to look at Leo, who had his eyes firmly stuck to the image of the Big House in one of the screens. He was twisting his belt in his hans and a noticeable red was spreading over his nose and cheeks as the scent deepened.

"Sorry" He said, his lips barely parting. "I still don't…know what happened, I just-!"

"Leo" Annabeth interrupted him. "It's fine" She didn't look or sound angry or exasperated. Leo made a questioning sound, tilting his head. "You mentioned feeling cold. I-I felt the same, just before we arrived at New Rome. I don't know what caused it, if Gaia or Octavian, But I don't— _we_ don't think it was you"

"But, are we safe from it happening again?" Frank asked, frowning at nothing in particular.

Leo stood up, hands heating up. "It's over, alright? It won't happen again" His voice raised just the exact amount to get his point across, but he could still see Frank tensing up. Leo sighed and stepped up to him. "Dude, I don't wanna fight, not right now. Let's just—let's drop it, alright?" He touched Frank's arm for added measure. His palm was still warm and it made the son of Mars relax a bit, enough to erase the frown from his face at least. "Look, if you still don't trust me, that's fine. To be honest I wouldn't either if I wasn't me" Frank tried to say something there, but Leo kept going. "But, and at risk of doing a musical reference, we're in this together, man" He addressed the whole room. It was harder to speak for himself when the only people who believed him were below deck. "We should split up. That way if someone fucks up, we can help each other out"

"Uh, yeah, no" Percy piped in. "Have you never seen Scooby-Doo? Not a good idea"

"But they always catch the monster"

"You mean the monster catches them-"

Hazel stepped in. "It could work" She said. "There aren't supposed to be too many demigods in the same place, plus…" She trailed off, glancing at Leo briefly before looking away and pursing her lips.

Leo understood. As the one and only Omega of the group, added to the fact most monsters and immortals presented Alpha behavior, he was most likely to attract bigger problems.

"I could go alone" He supplied, getting crazed looks from everyone.

"No, of course not, Holy Pluto that's not what I meant at all" Hazel huffed, placing her hands on her hips. "We're a team, we work together. You just said so yourself!"

"Yeah, But I-"

"No. If you're going to be like that then I'll go with you, so help me" Hazel looked back at Frank who was slightly taken aback by the sudden rush of authority Hazel had gotten. He seemed to forget exactly who she was and who was her father, sometimes. "Frank, you can carry heavy stuff as a dragon. Could you take Percy and Annabeth to find tar? I'll go with Leo on Arion"

Frank didn't seem to convinced, looking back and forth between Leo and his girlfriend in concern. Leo didn't like look; it was the same he got in all his foster homes when being left alone. Distrust.

"We should get moving" Annabeth interrupted. "Leo, will it take long to fix?"

"Just a few hours if we leave now. Afterwards we move on, kick Dirt Face's titanic ass back to sleep and continue with our merry lives…unless we die, which is still a big possibility but" He shrugged" y'know, such is life"

They looked at him as if his head had turned purple. Except Percy, who cracked a small smile, crooked and amused. Leo mentally patted himself on the back.

"Alright then, ready to go?"

* * *

"Nemesis" Leo breathed, his aunt Rosa grinning at him from the face of the goddess.

She dropped the cookie in her hand to slap her knee in mirth.

"Ah, I knew you wouldn't disappoint, boy" She moved to ruffle his hair, only to find air as Leo took a step back. Nemesis kept smiling nonetheless, picking up a new cookie. " _You will find fortune in your path"_ She snorted. "Yeah, if you step on a dime"

"This is ridic—what are you even doing here?!" Leo asked as the goddess passed her finger over the paper, resealing the cookie before tossing it into the basket.

"I'm in a sort of vacation" She said. "Olympus is closed off, all the gods have gone nuts with the war you have started" She could've been talking about the seven in general, but Leo had the nagging feel she was talking about him specifically. "I am also here to help you!"

"Help us?"

"Yes! Everyone enjoys seeing the mighty fall, and Gaia is the biggest fish in the pond right now" Nemesis laughed, then stopped. "Although, everything has to be paid. My help comes with a price"

"Um, I don't exactly have good experiences with making deals with gods" Hazel said, eye twitching.

"The curse your father bestowed upon you has nothing to do with this, child" The goddess said. Leo jumped. Cursed? "I offer equivalent exchange. Everything needs a balance to work out"

"Yeah, well, we already know what we need. We just want the bronze that's somewhere around here" Leo said, frowning at her. Nemesis' kids at camp were always making everyone favors in exchange of the most ridiculous payments. Roger Higgins had tried to exchange him a music box for three locks of his hair. Leo knew enough to know anything involving body parts was not to be trifled with, and sent the guy off.

"Oh, that. Yes, you will find it over there, near the sweethearts"

"Sweethearts?"

Nemesis hummed. "They sure don't give up easily, even though my poor Cursed Boy's just as doomed as he was before" She tapped her chin. "Speaking of doom; your brother, right? Today's June 25th. I'd give him 6 days, then he dies!" She was too cheerful to be giving such news. It made Hazel want to punch her in the face. Which would not be hard, seeing at how the face she saw was of someone she wanted to pummel anyway.

"And _you_ " She turned to Leo. "I like you, boy. Life has slapped you in the face plenty of times, and you have kicked it back in turn every time. A well balanced succession of events, and yet always so alone. Always the seventh wheel. You will not find a place amongst your brethren, and yet I want to help you, little Omega"

Leo felt her words chill his flesh, which made him realize a little too late how his hand had caught on fire. Hazel took a step back in shock and he hurried to extinguish it "I don't think I want to pay your price"

"Oh, just think about it! Take your time! Here" She took his hand and forced it open, closing it again around a fortune cookie. Her hands were both clammy and hot. "Whenever you need help, open this. We will settle the price later" She winked at him, patting his hand before standing up to walk to her motorcycle parked next to her. "Pleasure to do business with you!" She hopped on and in a blink of an eye, she was gone.

Hazel watched her go and then turned to Leo, who was staring at the cookie in his hand like its mere existence made him sick. He shoved it into his belt and turned around to keep walking, but waited for Hazel to lead the way.

"Alright" She sighed, pushing him forward softly with a hand on his back. "This way"

* * *

 _I won't find a place amongst my brethren_ , Leo repeated to himself in his mind. He didn't want it to show, but those words had cut deep. All his life, since his mother's death, he'd been shunned and abandoned one time after the other. Running away had been a last resource, one born out of desperation to finally feel safe and wanted. He hadn't achieved it until he found Jason and Piper, until he arrived at Half-Blood hill. Where he had formed his own little family. His mind drifted back to them for a second.

They would be fine without him around; it had been Michael's death what put them in such a stressful state before he arrived. Leo IM'ed them at least once a week to check up on them and it seemed thing were going fine enough, with Will looking after them by Leo's petition. A few getting courted here and there but nothing they couldn't handle. Nyssa had even let them take some of—all of—Leo's pillows and covers to take with them to their own beds. Apparently Cecil was responding to Lou Ellen and Mitchell had just now realized exactly what Clovis meant by inviting him over for naps at his cabin.

He was brought back to reality when he lost his balance while climbing a boulder, following Hazel, only for her to catch his hand and bring him up. This was the second time in the day someone kept him from falling and it amazed him that they were Frank and Hazel specifically.

With the way they were standing on the rock they had to stay very close and Leo really had trouble believing Hazel had indeed been dead up until a few months ago. She was warm and her hand had the soft movement of a pulse beneath her dark skin.

He felt her eyes on his once again and hurried to let go of her hand. "Um, thanks" He patted his pants absently, trying to erase the feeling of her hand on his. It was making him nervous. "So, what was that Nemesis said about your brother and having six days, anyways?"

Hazel finally looked away, pursing her lips. "My brother Nico. He's the one who brought me back from the dead and to Camp Jupiter" She said. "I owe him so much. If I can't save him…"

Leo moved carefully around the boulder to sit next to her. " _We_ can save him. I'm sure" He patted the space next to him for her to sit, which she did with just the smallest hesitation. "I don't know much about Percy or Frank, but Jason can kick anyone's ass while Piper holds them down without lifting a finger. Also Annabeth. She scares the shit out of me. In fact, both she and Percy do. Those two are a mad team"

That at least made her laugh. "Yeah, she seems tough" She swung her feet, looking at the island below. "And what about you? That thing you were…doing down at the beach…"

Leo looked at her, confused for a second until it came to him. "Oh! The…the fire thingy, yeah"

Hazel looked uncomfortable now, hand covering her shirt over her heart in what Leo recognized as a protective gesture. She was scared of him, or at least didn't feel all that right around him now. Great, one more person to be freaked out by him.

"We should move on" He suggested, jumping down from the rock and offering her a hand. Then he remembered his hand setting on fire before and brought it back down, but Hazel caught it before he could manage and jumped down after him. She smiled at him and Leo smiled back hesitantly, feeling a bit better. "Alright, let's look for this guy Lady Revenge mentioned, her 'Cursed Boy'?"

"Cursed Boy" A feminine voice repeated nearby, and both demigods turned to barely see a girl blending with the background. "Cursed Boy" She said once more, and signaled for them to follow her.

* * *

Leo, like many other kids, had been told by his mom many times that he shouldn't follow strangers, but then again most kids couldn't set themselves on fire at will, so he followed the girl into the forest until they reached what looked like a mob of 15 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert.

The girls, a bunch of nymphs in varying skin tonalities and clothes to be precise, were all screaming and fangirling over a guy standing next to a pond in the middle of the meadow. Granted, once he got a clear look Leo admitted the guy was really good looking in an androgynous kind of way, with limbs long and muscly and all, but he was more focused on the sizeable sheet of Celestial Bronze at the bottom of the pond the guy was using as mirror.

The guy moved his hand and the nymphs started screaming again, hurting Leo's ears in the process. He turned to glare at the one closest to him and saw what was written on her shirt.

"Narcissus? Like, the flower?"

"Like the myth" Hazel supplied, looking at the man with a mix of awe and wariness, stepping closer to Leo. "They guy who fell in love with his own reflection and drowned to death trying to reach it"

"He's so hot!" One of the nymphs sighed. "And he's sitting in my boulder!"

"Well, he's looking into _my_ pond, it's clear he likes me more!" Another one said.

"But he's sitting on my grass!"

They started fighting with each other, and Leo took the chance to step around Hazel—earning a curious sound from her—and go kneel next to Narcissus.

"Sup man" He said, trying to move the man's attention away from the pond.

Narcissus frowned and waved his hand at him, not looking away from his reflection. "You're blocking the sun. I can't see myself in all my splendor like that. Could you move?"

Leo looked at the water. He could see himself just fine, nothing great like Narcissus but the light wasn't a big deal. "Right. Look, do you mind if we just take that bronze from there? It'll be fast"

"No" Narcissus said. "The color fits me perfectly. You can't take it"

"Okay, but" Leo reached into his tool belt, willing for a small hand mirror to appear in his hand. "I could give you this? Look, you can carry it around with you. I'm sure your legs get cramped kneeling here all day long" He handed the mirror to him, hoping it worked.

Narcissus took the small gift and looked at it quickly. "Oh, I am _so_ gorgeous" He cooed at his own reflection. "But this isn't the same, it lacks that golden shine that…" He'd made to return the mirror to Leo, finally acknowledging him, when he stopped talking. He tilted his head. "Hello"

Leo halted and looked around, confused. Then he supposed Narcissus must've been talking to him. "Uh, hi?" He waved his hand awkwardly, only for Narcissus to grasp it.

He brought it close to his face, looking at it as if it was the first time in millennia he saw another human—and maybe he did. Leo started to actually freak out when the man pressed his face against his palm and closed his eyes.

He could hear some sort of rumble behind him and then he realized the nymphs and Echo had gone quiet. Narcissus moved his hand so Leo was kind of touching his cheek instead. Yep, awkward.

"Who are you?" He asked, for once fixing his eyes in something other than the reflection of his own face. Unluckily for Leo, it was _his_ face this time.

It was like Octavian all over again, but _this_ dude actually make him want to go hide behind Hazel. Leo was still kneeling and he was almost folded over himself with how much he was moving away from Narcissus, who had at some point leaned closer. "Leo? I'm just…look, I have more mirrors? I could find or make one to fit your needs and we can just take the bronze and leave—"

He searched into his pocket with his free hand, but Narcissus just took his wrist and pulled his hand out and now he had Leo completely immobilized. The idea of just flaming up never came to him as deep brown eyes bore into his. He was actually scared at this point. A whine escaped from his throat against his will.

The rumble from before became louder and Hazel appeared from the corner of his eye, and Leo realized it was her growls reverberating in her chest. She had tried to stay aside to see how Leo handled the situation, but it was obvious it had gone out of hand at some point. Leo had been ready to fight or flight; he was not expecting his personal bubble broken by some pretty boy.

Hazel stepped forward and pushed Narcissus away from Leo with a firm shove on his chest, making him crash against the boulder. The nymphs gasped and started shouting at her, while Echo looked from afar, not knowing if this would be good or not but not daring to interfere.

"Excuse me?!" Narcissus growled. Rubbing his back. "Oh, you better _wish_ I don't get a bruise from that, girl"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't care less" She hissed at him, pulling Leo off the ground with way too much strength for a 13 year old, and pushing him behind her. "Don't touch him"

"Oh, and a baby demigod is going to stop me?" He snorted, taking an arrow from his quiver and holding it near his bow. "Don't stick your nose in things that don't concern you"

"And who says this doesn't concern me" Hazel wasn't asking, and that usually wasn't a good sign from what Leo had seen in Alphas around the country. It meant they were done talking and were getting ready to use the fists.

With the mob of nymphs angry at her plus no backup and pretty much no weapons with them aside from Hazel's short-range _spatha_ , Leo knew that if they didn't find a somewhat pacific solution to this they would have to escape, and he really needed that bronze. "Hey, hey let's all calm down, okay?" He said aloud, enough for both Alphas to turn to him. He tried to turn on that voice he would use to put his kids in order. "Let's take a deep breath and relax. We can talk this out? Put down that bow, dude"

They actually listened, and he could see how they tried to breathe through their rising anger, but it only made Narcissus groan and rub his forehead.

"You smell so—come here" He said, motioning for Leo to come closer. Hazel went back to growling at him. Leo wanted to groan himself. He had started to emit stress pheromones without even realizing. Hazel was gonna rip this guy's throat out and then he'd just come back to life and _then_ they'd be both dead and it'd go on and on forever.

Leo touched her shoulder gently, trying to get her to calm down. It seemed she could feel how tense he was getting from the situation and stopped growling as a way to help him relieve some pressure. Good thing about being an Omega, Leo guessed. Didn't mean he liked it.

Leo turned to Narcissus. "Alright, how about we make a deal?"

Narcissus put his bow down. "What kind of deal?"

"If you let us take that bronze back to our ship unscathed, I'll give you anything you want; a full-body mirror, new bow and arrows, a selfie stick, a phone to go with it? Anything"

"Leo-" Hazel started before Leo cut her off.

"Let me handle this" He muttered to her, seeing how Narcissus seemed to be thinking the offer over. He also kept glancing back between Leo and his pond. "So what will it be, then?" He asked out loud.

Narcissus put his arrow back in the quiver. "Alright, I accept your terms" He stepped away from the pond. The nymphs complained loudly. "You can take it"

Leo grinned widely and walked to the pond, trying to plan how to get it out when the plank started sinking into the sand. Alarmed he looked around only to see Hazel with her hands on the ground, pulling out what was most definitely the sheet of bronze. "Oh my Hephaestus, that's so cool"

Hazel smiled at him and maneuvered the sheet in her arms. Leo gave her a double thumbs-up and turned to Narcissus, hand in his tool belt at the ready for whatever it was he wanted. "Okay then, what can the great Bad Boy Valdez do for you in exchange for the—"

Narcissus knelt in front of him and then his hands were cupping Leo's face and suddenly a pair of lips were on his own.

When Leo thought about how his first kiss would go about, it never involved a revived Greek myth, an equally brought-back-to-life Roman girl, and the most shocked bunch of nymphs in history. He didn't know what to do, so he just stood there like a plank, arms glued to his sides and eyes shut closed as he just waited for it to be over. For someone who had never wanted to kiss anyone but himself, Leo had to admit that Narcissus seemed to know what he was doing; holding him in place with not enough force but making it impossible for him to turn his head away, and moving his mouth slowly against his in a clean and fluid contact that didn't require much response form Leo.

Finally he pulled away and Leo refused to open his eyes immediately, instead swallowing loudly and waiting to be let go. When a few seconds passed and the hands on his face still hadn't released him, he dared open one eye.

Narcissus wasn't looking at him anymore; he was having a death-stare match with Hazel standing behind Leo, having dropped the bronze. There were no growls and it put Leo on edge. That meant they didn't want to warn the other _when_ they would attack.

"So! That-that was a thing that happened, just now" He shouted-laughed as he pried Narcissus' hands away from his cheeks. "I guess we could consider this transaction finished, so we'll just go on our way…" An arm wrapped around his waist and he yelped as he was pushed against a firm chest.

"You are staying here, boy" Narcissus said as if it were obvious. "The girl can go away with my mirror"

Leo stammered. "But—but you said—"

" _You_ said you would give me anything I wanted; I want you"

The nymphs' yells turned into shrieks, and when Leo found Echo's face in the crowd, she looked almost as shocked as he felt, sad and hurt.

"Nonononono no! This was _not_ part of the plan! I thought, the k-kiss—"

Narcissus laughed, holding Leo tighter against him. "That was just part of my pay. That mirror is worth so much more, don't you think?" He purred the last part into Leo's ear, and he shuddered as he tried to wriggle from his arms.

Ohgoshohgoshohgoshohgosh

"Ha-Hazel" Leo called out, feeling a hand start caressing his stomach right over his—"Hazel!"

Hazel jumped just as Leo flamed up entirely, Narcissus dropping him with a shout.

"Is my hair alright?! Is it burned?!"

Hazel used the hilt of her sword to hit Narcissus in the chest like she'd done before, managing to make him fall into the pond. Leo tried to keep his fire down but the nymphs started closing in on him and the flame just got bigger and hotter, starting to get blue at some points.

Hazel brought her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly, then ran away from the pond while Narcissus struggled to find the edge. She picked up the sheet of bronze and used it as a wall to push the nymphs back from Leo. Echo stayed behind the mob and made them trip backwards one by one as they stumbled from the push. Leo managed to pat down the fire in his arm in time for Hazel to grab it in a death grip and pull him with her to run away. Narcissus was getting out of the pond when they found a good way to run while carrying the bronze, and had started running after them with the nymphs hot on his heel.

"Get that boy back! Whoever catches him can take a peek of my first pup, from afar!"

The nymphs screeched and hurried up, passing Narcissus as he tried futilely to ready one of his crumbling arrows. Leo whined louder at his words and started running faster, practically switching places with Hazel and being him the one pulling her along behind him. She couldn't understand how he kept getting faster and faster with twiggy legs and the seemingly never-ending chant of 'nononononononono' falling from his lips.

They reached the beach and had to stop at the water's edge. Leo kept moving, looking this way and that and trying to find a way to get into the ship. The closer the mob chasing them got, the heavier his scent flooded out of him, and Hazel started to feel dizzy.

Then a spray of sand covered his pursuers and Arion was whining insistently at them, pawing at the ground. Hazel dropped her end of the plank and lifted Leo onto the horse as if he weighted nothing—and he kinda did, she was so locking him in the kitchen when they got back-, and hurried to climb up behind him, calling the bronze to her hands and patting Arion's flank to get him moving.

The horse reared up and ran off, rushing over the water as Narcissus roared from the beach they left behind.

* * *

After getting back on board—and almost having to knock Jason back into unconsciousness when he tried to get up from catching the remains of his stress call—Leo escaped to the engine room to work on the damaged parts of the ship. Percy had had to go up and try to keep the lake nymphs from turning the ship over in their haste to please Narcissus, and Leo couldn't find any better incentive to work as fast as possible. He almost didn't believe it when he had the hull fixed and the ship ready to fly in a thing of _minutes_.

"I don't know you guys" He said as he emerged from the engine room to the upper deck where everyone was gathered. "But I could really use some food right now"

And food did he get. As soon as everyone gathered in the dining room and Leo sat down, Hazel immediately occupied the sit next to him and shoved the biggest plate of mashed potatoes and chicken the plates could make appear.

"Uh, Haze, I really don't think I can—"

" _Eat_ "

"'Kay"

As they went on to discuss the prophecy, Frank sat down next to Hazel, looked very confused at how she seemed to follow every movement of the fork to make sure Leo was indeed eating and not shoving it all into a pocket dimension, because dammit, she said she would get some meat in those bones and she _would_.

"Hazel" Frank whispered in her ear as Leo got distracted asking where should they land to finish repairs. "What are you doing?"

"Have you looked at him? He's skin and bones!" She hissed quietly, trying to direct her voice at him while at the same time keeping her eyes on Leo.

"Yeah, I can see that. What I can't see is why would you care so much?" Frank said, grumbling the last part. He assessed the Omega up and down, trying to find a threat in a 15 year old boy weighting 90 pounds soaking wet. The only threat he found was that of him choking himself to death while trying to speak through a mouthful of chicken.

Hazel wished for a glass of water to appear and handed it to Leo. He downed it without thinking much about it and continued with the discussion after thanking her. "I don't know. I just do. He kinda reminds me of Nico, you know?"

Frank stared at her for a moment before moving his eyes to Leo, scowling a bit. "Uh, I think I see what you mean" They did kinda look similar, in an odd way; both were short, thin, with a mess of hair. If Nico spent some time under the sun they'd probably even look more alike; but he also recognized in Leo the same feeling of sadness and stubbornness he'd felt from Nico the few times they'd met in New Rome when he was visiting Hazel. "But still, he's none of our business; he's Jason's, or Piper's"

Hazel finally looked away from Leo, biting her lip. "I know…but still. I wouldn't feel right"

"Right about what?"

Both of them jumped in surprise when Leo leaned towards them. With a quick glimpse from Hazel's part, she saw his plate was empty and felt her chest swell with pride.

"Guys? We're splitting up to work faster. Percy, Jason and Piper are going down to find Dyonisus. I'm staying here with Leo to help repair the ship" Annabeth said. "What are you planning to do?"

Frank stood up. "I saw some Roman eagles back in the lake. I can go keep an eye out for them"

"Oh, oh, oh, are you gonna turn into a dragon again? That was so cool man, like, the coolest thing I've seen" Leo jumped from his chair, kneeling on it instead to stare wonderstruck at Frank as if he'd turn into a dragon any second now.

"Uh, I was thinking just a crow would be alright, actually"

"Boo, you whore" Leo pouted, sitting back down and crossing his arms. "You're no fun"

Frank's face turned red. Whether from embarrassment, anger or just surprise at Leo's wording, no-one could tell. Thankfully Hazel stepped in. "I'll help you, Frank. I'll call Arion to scout from land"

Leo's pout got bigger, as if the idea of being left alone just with Coach and Annabeth wasn't all that fun to him. "Alright, but come back soon. I'm gonna get bored fast once I'm done repairing this baby"

Jason whined, walking closer. "How come you don't say that to me? Aren't you going to miss me too?"

"Superman, you're my Alpha and I love you, but wherever you are, Piper is there, and it usually ends with me third-wheeling. So go have your fun finding the wine dude" Leo replied, but actually got up to hug him with as strong as possible, which was kinda like a gummy worm wrapped around a rock. "Also try not to die, that's important too"

Jason laughed and hugged him back, actually lifting him up with a yelp from the smaller boy. "I'll try"

Once everyone that had to leave had left, Leo turned to follow Annabeth downstairs to the engine room, absently patting his full stomach.


	5. Chapter 5

Piper was way smarter than anyone gave her credit for, but she might have had poor planning, so when she banished the eidolons possessing Percy, Jason and Leo, the two former got caught by their respective mates plus Hazel who was sitting next to the son of Jupiter.

Leo, though, kissed to the floor for the second time that day since Percy tackled him.

"Ow, dude!" He yelped, glaring at Frank. He was the closest one and yet, rather than catch his fall, he'd scrambled even farther away. "Really feeling the love here. Man, that hurt"

Frank had the decency to seem embarrassed. "I didn't, you were, I…" He tried to excuse himself.

Leo stood up, shaking his clothes of imaginary dust—Buford kept the place spotless—and rubbing his forehead where he'd hit the floor. "Alright, so it worked. No more evil ghost possessions for tonight?" He asked Piper.

She laughed, holding Jason up. "No more evil ghost possessions, promise"

Leo sighed. "Okay, that's good. I'll be up with Festus if you need me" He walked to the door, side-stepping Frank, who was still sitting on the floor, and disappeared into the hall.

Once he was gone, Hazel found her voice. "Frank!"

"What!"

"Why didn't you catch him?!"

"He said he was going to kill us!" He stood up, groaning at his bruised back.

Hazel slapped his arm. "That was not him, it was the eidolon!" She rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to keep herself in check. Everyone around was watching them, and a few of them wondered who actually wore the pants in this particular relationship. It seemed to change daily, but Hazel had an amazing toll on her favor. "Look, we're all tired. Why don't we, I don't know, take a nap or something?"

Percy cheered up at that. "Naps sound good. I'm all down for a nap"

"Not until I bandage that horseshoe mark on your head" Annabeth herded him out, ignoring his whines as she pushed him down to the sick bay.

Piper and Jason followed, going up to get some air, leaving Frank and Hazel alone in the room.

Frank rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. You're right, I should've caught him"

"Well, it's not me who needs an apology" Hazel snapped, then sighed. "Let's just forget it for now. Leo is busy and everyone's had a hard day. Has it really only been a day since we left?"

Frank smiled, draping an arm around her shoulders. "Feels like more"

"Yeah" She said, rubbing her eyes. "A nap _does_ sound good right now. You think Leo will be alright setting course on his own?"

"I think he can manage. Besides, Piper and Jason are nearby. You shouldn't worry"

"I know, but I can't-" She waved her hand helplessly, looking for the word.

"Help it?" Frank supplied.

Hazel nodded, walking down the hall to her room. "Yeah, that's it"

"You already said that earlier" Frank added, following her into her room and dropping into her bed. Hazel curled next to him and brought the blanket over both of them.

"Mmh, I'll look for another word later. Sleep" She mumbled, and Frank patted the wall twice for the lights to turn off. Leo really had thought of everything.

With that last though in mind, they fell asleep to the soothing movement of the ship sailing through the clouds.

* * *

With all the whining and groaning, Frank would've believed he was in the middle of the Zombi Apocalypse instead of an impending World War III.

After a stroll under the stars, Piper had taken Jason to the sick bay to get his head treated, and met with Percy and Annie as they left the infirmary for the stables, a roll of bandages wrapped around Percy's head. Blackjack was whinnying from his stall, calling for Percy to apologize for the kick. The noise woke Hazel and Frank up who went downstairs to see what the ruckus was about. Now they were all just lying around in the stables, laying on hay heaps, each other or, in Percy's case, Blackjack's flank.

"It still huuuurts" The son of Poseidon whined. He'd hit the limit with the ambrosia and Annabeth had banned him from the first aid cabinet in case he felt like sneaking some out. "We should've brought Will with us"

"Who's Will?" Hazel asked, back against Frank's chest as he alternated between dropping a handful of hay on her head and shaking it off again.

"This kid of Apollo's, really good with his hands" He wriggled his fingers. Annabeth kicked his leg. "With healing, I mean"

"We could use some of that" Piper agreed. "I swear even touching his hair heals you"

Percy made an agreeing noise, though from his position it came out as more of a gurgle. "Maybe we could get Apollo to help us. Jason, you're pretty. Lure him in"

"Bro, he's literally my brother" Jason said, face twisting in a grimace.

"Hazel's horse is my brother because my dad couldn't keep it in his pants around literally his sister" Percy counter-argument. "I can't believe I didn't get turned into a wheat stalk for saying that. Also your dad and step-mom are brother and sister. In fact, let's leave it at that. I don't want to think about it"

Everyone agreed loudly, Piper even covering her ears. Suddenly she gasped, and leaned to lightly hit Frank's shoulder.

"Dude! We're step-siblings!" She said.

Frank sat up slightly, frowning. "No, our parents are not married, they just…get around a lot?"

Percy snorted. "If you mean they sneak to Olympus best motel every chance they get, then yes"

"But we have siblings in common, that makes us family" Piper said anyway, beaming at him. "It's so cool to have a sorta sibling out of my cabin"

"If anything, Leo is your step-brother" Frank answered, then paused. "Where is Leo anyway?"

"He said he was going to be with Festus" Annabeth said, doubt in her voice even as she spoke.

Jason sat up. "But that was like two hours ago" He groaned as he fumbled to stand up. "I'll go check on him"

"We should all go. We kind of left him on his own" Piper followed after him, looking guilty. Leo _was_ her best friend along with Jason, but since leaving camp, or even before that, she'd been neglecting spending time with him.

It was a non-verbal agreement amongst all of them, and they made their way up to see what the Omega was doing.

They almost missed him when they walked past the dining room, until Hazel smelled him and retraced her steps back, frantically tapping Frank's back so he could get the rest to come back and see.

The lounge was silent, the only noises being the crackling of fire and crickets heard from the walls showing Camp Half-Blood at night. Streamers of all lengths and colors hung from the rafters and chairs, even wrapped around the table—which was filled with food and drinks as well as the ridiculous party hats and the horrible party blowers Percy liked to abuse during his birthday parties. Leo was there, balancing on one foot on Buford the Table as he tried to hang a streamer in a particularly high rafter, grumbling to himself as he tried jumping to reach the spot.

"…Leo?" Hazel asked from her spot on the door. Leo was clearly not expecting that as he yelped and stumbled off the surface he'd been standing on. Buford cupboard opened and caught him before he hit the floor.

"Wow, that was close" He muttered, standing up straight and patting the table as one would a puppy. "Thanks B-man. At least someone's got my back around here" He muttered under his breath, but noticing Frank's wince. He probably realized the same.

Buford gave a happy whirring noise, or he would've if he weren't a mechanized table. But then again, Leo's inventions were prone to developing emotions of their own.

Leo cleared his throat and took off the streamer out of his hair before addressing the group. "So, uh…surprise?" He gestured to the room in general.

"What-what's all this?" Annabeth asked as she looked around, walking hesitantly into the lounge as if one misplaced step would make all the decorations tumble down.

"I miiight have noticed we were having a very hard day today, with the Romans and the gods and the attacks in general so, I decided to set up a little party, to take the edge off for a bit? Yeah?" Leo said, smiling nervously as he instinctively winced, waiting for the reprimands about making party plans in the middle of a quest and oh Hephaestus what was he thinking he needed to take everything down and fix the-

"This is so cool" Hazel murmured in a daze, watching the color exploding around the room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think this through, I'll…wait, what?"

"Leo, this was a great idea!" Piper marched inside, laughing as she hugged the shortest demigod. "Why didn't you tell us? We would've helped!"

Leo crossed his arms once he was let go. "Yeah, I just didn't think you'd be very much up to it. You're all pretty banged up"

"Hazel and I aren't, though" Frank wondered, looking at his girlfriend for confirmation. Hazel nodded in agreement. "You could've had asked us"

"Well, no offense big guy, but you didn't seem too keen on being near me after the exorcism. And Hazel helped me out with…the bronze earlier. I know she's pretty tired too" He seemed to be leaving something out in that last part, and Frank's eyebrows raised at the growl that came out of Hazel.

She cleared her throat soon enough, pushing the subject aside. "Well, what are we supposed to do now?" She asked, twirling a streamer. She noticed Percy and Jason were already prowling the food table. Boys.

"We party!" Leo shouted as he pointed a remote at the wall, a brand new stereo appearing from behind a movable panel. Pop music started blaring and Piper whooped, jumping to drag Jason to the empty space Leo had turned into a dancefloor by dragging the chairs to the walls. Jason whined as he was taken away from the little cocktail sandwiches that Percy had started to gulf down on his own until he was just as dragged away by his mate.

The music made Hazel hesitate. She could dance fairly well, but this beat was something new and it didn't make sense; and Frank was just standing there, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"And what do we have here?" The voice coming from their side had them both jumping, almost getting ready for an attack. Leo raised an eyebrow at them, hip cocked and arms crossed in the most 'bitch please' position he could muster. "Two lost demigods who are not aware they just walked into the party of the century. Go dance, kids"

"Pretty sure we're older than you" Frank said, posture relaxing a bit.

" _Definitely_ older than you" Hazel laughed. Leo grinned at her joke about her 'real' age.

"You don't look a year over 57" Leo shrugged, then bowed deeply and offered his hand to Hazel with a much exaggerated flourish. "May I, milady?"

Hazel laughed again, louder as she took the offered hand and sending Frank a thumbs-up as Leo helped her dance to the music.

Well, Frank thought they were dancing. It was more like non-stopping twirling and spinning. They were about to make the world smallest hurricane if they kept it up.

After twenty minutes or so of dancing, Leo saw that Frank had gone to sit in one of the chairs off to the side. Leo complained loudly, releasing Hazel's hands to go fetch him and drag him in as well. It was really funny to see how he managed to make Frank walk behind him to the dancefloor, seeing how he barely reached his shoulder.

Leo was just going to hand him over to Hazel and then sneak off to reach the tacos before Coach Hedge realized there was a party on board, when the most unexpected thing happened; Frank's hand tightened on his and he was dragged back into the teen. He blinked up at him and then at Hazel and it seemed some sort of plan had concocted between them in the two seconds that had passed because then Hazel grabbed his other hand and somehow the three of them were dancing and spinning around together.

Leo was so surprised he couldn't help but bumping into Jason at some point, then Annabeth at another, until he got a hold of himself and threw his focus more into their erratic dancing, laughing and cheering. The sweet scent of his joy permeated the room and just pushed everyone into enjoying the little moment of peace even more, even when hours had unknowingly went by and both the general energy and the food in the table had diminished considerably.

Everyone had chosen to sit down for a moment once the energy wore off, wearing the party hats on their heads—or noses on Percy's case—and Piper blowing on a horn every once in a while as she lay with her head on Annabeth's lap. The only ones still dancing were Leo and Jason.

The music had gone slow when the rest stopped dancing, and the two boys left behind were pressed very close, Leo's hands around Jason's neck, with one of Jason's hands on his waist and the other holding Leo's free hand in a sort of mocking waltz. Frank was lazily staring from his seat, noticing that if it weren't for the way they seemed to be more focused on chatting and laughing at each other's awful jokes, they'd actually make a good couple.

But then again Jason was already mated and Leo was more like his little brother, and that knowledge turned the whole scene into something more out of a family moment, and for some reason it warmed his whole body, like hot chicken soup in a cold day. He stole the horn from Piper's mouth and started blowing it to distract himself when he realized where his line of thought was going.

"This is so great" Percy sighed from his place lying spread-eagle on the floor on his back. The hat on his nose made his voice sound like a duck's. "It could only get better if we had a spa or something. My back is killing me"

Leo heard him through the music and his own conversation, and stopped dancing, hands still on Jason's shoulders. "Uh, funny that you mentioned it"

Piper sat up so fast she almost head-butted Annabeth's chin. "Don't tell me you built in a spa"

"Not exactly?" Leo answered bashfully. "I mean, it's up on deck, if you want to see it"

On deck? The place they spent most of their time in? There was no way they hadn't seen something like a spa built in there. They rushed out of the room anyway, followed by Leo trying to keep up with the mob.

"Geez, you guys are fast" He panted, fumbling into his tool belt for a remote in specific. He pulled out a Tamagotchi and pressed the buttons in a particular order, and suddenly the hissing sound of air entering a closed space filled the deck.

Nothing about the deck seemed off, or like it could've been hiding something. Just plain old wood planks perfectly melded together in one smooth floor. And then it happened. Right in the middle, a couple of extremely well covered wooden panels lifted and slid to the sides, revealing an empty, square-shaped hole inside. A hole made of concrete and painted light blue.

Percy was the first to gasp. "A pool! You built a pool!"

"Yeah, when I was making the blueprints I thought 'How awesome would it be to have a pool party every night I mean come on', but then when I finished it I realized it was stupid so I just—covered it up. I was gonna bring it up if we didn't die during the quest once we were back home"

"Well, as much as I agree that is a bit impractical considering the situation, I must say this sounds quite grea—EEK!" Annabeth couldn't finish her sentence because suddenly a large block of water had been cut from the ocean directly below and was hanging above their heads, moving to drop messily in the empty pool, splashing everyone around. "PERSEUS!"

"What? You said it was grea—EEK!" Percy mocked, then took a few steps back and ran to the edge of the pool, jumping into the water and, to add insult to injury, made sure to bomb in so he could splash even more. He resurfaced a second later, clothes dry but looking completely fresh and renewed.

"Want to see something even better?" Leo pressed on the Tamagotchi again, and in a thing of seconds the water was bubbling and Percy sighed so loudly Leo feared his lungs might be collapsing.

Piper sat on the border and dunked her feet in the hot water. "Leo Valdez, you are an angel sent from Texas"

"You know it babe"

"Oh man, I wish I had my swimming trunks here. I didn't bring near enough underwear to be getting it get" Jason pouted, flipping Percy off as he showed off how he switched between his clothes getting wet and then drying up again.

"I can fix that!" Piper exclaimed as she got up. "Come on, if something attacks Percy can take one for the team"

"Oh haha, hilarious McLean" Percy called from the water, but it sounded off and bubbly as he was still submerged.

Turned out Piper had gotten a sort of 'I missed all your birthdays and you're my favorite daughter so here' present from her mom. A shiny neon pink chest—unpaintable, of course—from which you could retrieve any clothes you could think of. You just needed to think the design, color and size and it was in your hands. Piper had had a hard time keeping it hidden from her siblings; it was one thing if Drew knew about the gift, it was another and even scarier thing if _Mitchell_ found out about it. Soon enough everyone had shut themselves in their rooms to change and the dance party had been turned into a pool party.

The pool was actually quite shallow, so it was more of an oversized hot tub instead. It calmed Hazel immensely when she stepped around the border with the water barely coming up to her elbows. She didn't get along with deep waters and that was something only Frank and Nico knew. She found a protruding ledge acting as a submerged bench and sat down, just enjoying the bubbles against her skin. What else had they come up with in the last 70 years? Technology was truly amazing.

Her gaze wandered over the rest of the group, to the other side of the pool where Percy had Annabeth on his shoulders and—amazingly enough, but not surprisingly—Piper was doing the same to Jason as the blondes tried to push shove each other off into the water.

"I say Jason falls first"

If she hadn't been sitting, she would've slipped and most likely drowned in the 4 feet of water. Leo's voice coming out of nowhere from behind her had startled her to say the least. Well, not like it came out of nowhere exactly. Leo had sat on the ledge next to her, and the water lapping at his chest made Hazel realize for the first time just how short he was; almost as much as her.

"Oh yeah? You think Piper can't hold him up?" She asked him, swinging her feet underwater to make small waves around them.

Leo slumped back against the wall, the water reaching his chin and wetting the curls at the nape of his neck. "Nah, she's got a good grip. But I've seen Annabeth train. And do you remember when we arrived to fetch you guys yesterday? She freaking _flipped_ Percy like it was nothing" A loud splash was heard, followed by the daughter of Athena cheering. "Told you"

Hazel snorted. "I thought Lord Apollo was in charge of prophecies"

"What can I say, I'm the whole package" A new splash near them told them about Frank finally getting into the water. Thus far he'd been the one who'd taken the most time in getting out of his room.

The water reached just above his stomach, and he shivered from the wind against his exposed torso before approaching Hazel and Leo. He'd been intending to sit next to his girlfriend, but then he noticed Hazel had sat at the very end of the ledge, leaving the space next to Leo the only one available. Frank didn't put much of a fuss when he sat next to Leo instead, much to Leo's surprise.

"What did I miss?" Frank asked, watching at Percy and Jason wrestling at the other end. He noticed Jason was careful of not dunking Percy underwater, even though there was no risk of him drowning.

"Annabeth kicked Jason's ass" Leo said. He'd joined Hazel in her swinging her legs, adding his own little waves to the water. "Took you forever to come out, man. What happened?" He said, addressing Frank directly.

Frank looked at the water, placing his hands on his lap. "I couldn't find a pair of trunks I liked, so I just tried 12 before I gave up"

Leo raised an eyebrow, subtlety thrown to the wind as he stared at him up and down. "You look fine to me"

"Me too" Hazel added, leaning forward to grin at him from Leo's other side. Frank's face reddened again and he tried to get further underwater to blame the pool's temperature for it.

Leo sighed contently and brought his legs up so his feet were propped against the edge of the seat, his knees peeking out of the water. He almost forgot he wasn't in Long Island, that there was an impending war growing every hour and that he was in the middle of a quest which could very well cost him his and everyone else's lives. He didn't forget, of course; he wasn't as unconscious as everyone thought him to be, but this was pretty much the only moment of peace they have had in months, and maybe the only one they'll have in who knows how long. He wanted to just—relax.

"Leo? Did you fall asleep?" Hazel's voice came distorted through the water covering his ears. Leo cracked an eye open and pushed himself slightly up to hear her better.

"No, 'mwake" Leo said. His voice did sound kind of drowsy though.

"You look kind of tired. Don't you want to go to bed?" What was this, 20 questions? Why was Hazel so concerned for him all of a sudden?

Well, okay, that last part was a lie. Hazel had shown more interest in Leo's well-being than most of the crew since the quest started, sans Jason and Pipes of course. Still, she barely knew him. Leo hoped it didn't have to do with his status. He grimaced internally at the thought. He really didn't like people treating him like something that needs protecting just because he was at the very bottom of the food chain.

"I'm not tired, really" He said, the words coming out clearer than before. "It's just the water"

Frank tilted his head. "The water? You didn't put anything in it, right?"

Hazel leaned forward to flick his nose. "Don't say that, it's rude"

Leo laughed and sat up straight, hugging his knees to his chest, but he stopped halfway and just stretched them out instead. No need to look smaller than he was right now. "Nah, it's clean. Besides, it was Percy who brought it up. If anything happens, it's his fault" He pointed over to the others with his chin, specifically at Percy. The son of Poseidon had been swimming circles around Piper to create small whirlpools around her, to her absolute delight. "See how hyped up he is? Water does the opposite to me. Fire is my thing, so water just mellows me the fuck down"

"That information would've been useful before" Frank muttered, yelping at the water Leo splashed on his face as answer.

Leo didn't seem mad, though. He was smiling, rather amused in fact. "You would've gotten along with my mom. When I got sugar highs as a kid, she would bring a baby bath to the warehouse, fill it with water and let me play in it until I calmed down enough to help around with repairs" He rested his head on the wood of the deck, closing his eyes. "I guess that's why I thought the pool would be a good idea. In case I got out of hand, I guess"

The offhanded way he said that, so unaffected by the idea he would need to be contained at some point, stirred something in both Alphas sitting on either side of him. With his eyes closed and ears once more submerged, Leo didn't notice the meaningful look that Hazel and Frank exchanged over his prone form.

Because whatever it was they had decided, it would catch Leo Valdez completely off-guard.


	6. Chapter 6

"Do you ever wonder if life's just playing a big joke on you?"

Jason looked away from the sword he was polishing, blinking slowly at Leo's words. They were in the control room, with Jason sitting on the floor, making company to Leo as he navigated.

"Uh…sometimes? Considering what we are, it wouldn't be surprising…" Jason said, giving Leo a strange look. "Where did that come from?"

Leo played with the console for a moment, punching buttons and pulling levers that to Jason seemed like random movements, but that were most likely very specific commands for the ship. Leo put on the auto-pilot and stepped away from the flashy buttons to sit on the floor next to him. "I got a question for you"

"Alright? Sure, go for it" Jason said, putting his sword down along with the old rag he'd been using.

They'd dropped off Percy, Frank and Coach in Atlanta a while ago, and waiting for them to come back had given them enough time to catch up, now that nothing was trying to kill them…at the moment, that is.

"What impression do I give? As a person, I mean" Leo asked him, fiddling with his thumbs. There were a few new band-aids on his fingers that weren't there the night before.

Jason wasn't expecting that kind of question. "As a…you mean like, a first-impression?" Leo shrugged, tilting his head side to side. Jason scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I guess it varies from person to person, but I'd say at first sight you seem…loud"

"Loud?" This time Leo looked at him straight on, crossing his arms across his chest. "Geez, thanks man. Feeling really appreciated here"

"Hey you asked me!" Jason huffed. "But whatever you're thinking, that's most likely not what I meant"

"So what is it then?"

"Alright, look" Jason continued. "You're short. And you do this thing were you always smile when meeting someone new, but it's like, a huge smile. All teeth. Flashy. So you look like a tiny battery ready to burst…I-I don't know if I'm making any sense here"

"I honestly don't even know how I should be feeling about it" Leo mumbled, but there was the tiniest hint of a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"Well, that's what I thought when I first met you, when I woke up in that bus, remember?" Jason said. "And then you go and the first thing you do is prank Coach. That kinda cemented whatever opinion I had of you at first sight"

Leo snorted. "And yet you decided to keep talking to me"

"You're a nice guy, believe it or not"

Leo pursed his lips for a moment, looking at a spot on the wall past Jason's face. "I've never been told that before"

Jason patted his shoulder. "Doesn't mean it's not true" There was a moment of silence, filled in with the beeping of the controls and the squeaks and creeks of Festus. "Where did all that come from?" He finally asked.

Leo sighed through his nose, bonking his head against the wall. "Remember last night? The party and all that?"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool"

"Yeah" Leo smiled, then went poker-faced again. "I feel like I'm being baited. I'm waiting for the switch"

Jason tilted his head. "Like Bait and switch? You're losing me here, man" Leo quietly mused if all Alphas were so boneheaded.

"You know, something you like gets dangled in front of your nose, and just as you're about to bite down on it, it gets ripped away from you? I'm waiting for that last part to happen, so I'm trying not to take the bait"

"…Is this some weird metaphor for Omegas?"

Leo groaned, hanging his head low.

Jason smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. But hey, if you tell me directly what you want to tell me, I promise I'll keep it to myself"

"Jason, you do realize Alphas are the biggest gossips in nature. Like, it's been scientifically proven. You guys just can't shut up"

"Boy's scout promise, I won't tell" Jason said, adding the three-fingered salute and everything.

"Pretty sure you don't have boy scouts in New Rome" Leo grinned, but scooted closer until he was stuck to Jason's side. "Alright, I'll trust you…for now"

"Gee, thanks"

"Shut up" Leo started fiddling with his fingers again, peeling back the band-aids and sticking them on again. "I think I might…like someone?"

A little excited high-pitched keen came from Jason's throat. Gossip, Leo called it. "Oh man, oh man. Tell me everything. Now"

Leo covered his face with his hands, trying hard to keep his hair from bursting into flames. He couldn't do this. "I…uh"

"Are they from camp? It's not that still that ice girl, right? She's bad for you, Leo" Suddenly he gasped. "Is it someone from the ship?"

Leo was feeling his scalp starting to burn when out of nowhere Annabeth appeared at the door, looking like she'd run all the way over, shouting at him to start up the ship and to GO.

"Frank and Percy are back, let's go, let's go!" She said once more before rushing away.

Leo jumped to his feet, the relief of having being saved from the confession fueling him up to start smashing buttons, getting the ship into open sea in seconds.

He turned to look at Jason, who was pouting at him, knowing the conversation had just been cut short. He pointed a finger at Leo.

"This isn't over, Valdez" He warned unthreateningly, before turning and running away as well to help.

* * *

Everyone had decided to crowd the control room to give Leo a chance to listen as he sailed. There were Roman Eagles chasing their tail and they had to go faster. He was told to set course for Charleston, for whatever reason Frank and Percy had found in Atlanta. He would've asked Frank to explain further, but he seemed really engrossed with the Chinese handcuffs currently trapping his fingers. Leo couldn't help a snort that escaped him at seeing Frank so focused on the little trap, brow furrowed and tongue poking between his teeth.

"Need help figuring it out?" Leo asked him, leaning down a bit from his spot at the whelm.

Frank blinked up at him, as if just now realizing that they were still on a quest and that he was not alone. He flushed when he noticed the others were also looking at him fumbling with the toy, and in a second Frank was gone and instead an iguana stood next to the handcuffs, which turned back into Frank the next second, hands free.

"Oh, you figured out the iguana trick yourself! Good boy" Leo cooed, making Hazel bark a loud laugh from the other side of the room. Frank flushed even more, but did little more than put the handcuffs in his pocket and pout.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at their antics, but smiled nonetheless. "Leo, how long will it take us to reach Charleston?"

"Uh, we could be there in a few hours if we go straight, but I strongly suggest we…don't"

Hazel sprung to her feet. "What? No!" She walked through the room to stand in front of him. Even though they were almost the same size, Leo appeared smaller for a second. "Nico only has 4 days, we can't take any detours, not right now!"

Leo started fiddling with his fingers again. "I know, I know! Please don't eat me" He whined the last part. "But we won't be any help to him if we die before we get there because of those freaking Roma-" He stopped halfway, eyeing her, Frank and Jason warily. It wouldn't do to die himself for insulting three of the Alphas in the ship.

Jason noticed his line of thought, or maybe just the distress he was sending off in waves, but he waved his hand anyway to reassure him. "Don't worry, we know you don't mean us…don't you?"

Leo bristled. "Of course I don't! Gods, look how much you're making me shout today. I should turn off the AC in your room.

"I'm my own AC"

"Shut it"

Hazel sighed, fiddling with the hilt of her spatha as Leo and Jason kept on bickering. Frank came up next to her and gave her a one-armed hug.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll get there on time" He said, rubbing her shoulder in comfort.

"Yeah!" Leo shouted out of nowhere. "Don't worry, we'll send a little decoy, throw them off our trail, and you'll have your brother before you realize"

Hazel seemed unsure, but ultimately Leo's confidence was contagious enough to make her smile a bit. "Alright. Let's do this"

* * *

Leo was seriously trying to remember when he last slept on his bed. They'd been at the quest for just a few days, but for the sake of him he couldn't remember ever laying down there and actually sleeping.

He was just standing in his room, eyeing his pristine and untouched bed with squinted eyes when there was a knock at his door.

"Come in" He mumbled, still questioning the reason he even put a bed in his room in the first place. When nothing happened he realized that maybe he should've answered a bit louder.

But the door opened without him having to repeat himself, Frank slipping through and closing the door behind him after a moment of hesitation. Leo turned to face his visitor, surprised at seeing who it was.

Frank waved his hand awkwardly. "Hey" He said, sticking close to the door.

Leo half-expected Hazel to appear from behind him, he was so used to seeing them together at all times. But Frank had actually come alone, had entered his room of his own volition, and suddenly the place felt smaller than before. Leo tried to appear nonchalant as he walked towards the bed he'd been contemplating earlier, inconspicuously trying to put a safe distance between them.

"Hey" Leo greeted back, sitting down over the covers. Frank thankfully stood where he was, near the door. "To what do I owe this visit, Zhang?"

Frank's hands were fiddling with something inside the pocket of his hoodie. He didn't answer immediately, distracted as he was by the surprising order in Leo's room. He had been prepared to find a puddle of oil on the floor and steaming pipes twisting along the walls. The room was actually just like his would look if he picked up his dirty clothes…the ones Leo hadn't send off to distract the eagles with, anyway.

Leo was staring at him. Didn't he just ask him a question? "Oh. Right" He said in a low voice, taking his hands of his pocket and bringing out in them the little handcuffs from earlier. He heard Leo snort at the sight of it.

"You seem to like your new toy"

Frank huffed. "I still can't figure it out, to be honest" He looked up. "I was, uh, I thought about asking Annabeth but then I thought, do I really want to go through that?"

"No, no you don't"

Frank laughed. "Exactly! And…you seem like you know how they work? Thought I could ask you about it" He trailed off, looking elsewhere.

"What?" Leo said with a little laugh of disbelief, then realized Frank was being serious. "Dude, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who knows how they work, nor should I be your first option. Doesn't Hazel…?"

"Yeah, she knows"

"Then why don't you ask her?"

Frank sighed. "I-I guess this is more of an excuse, actually"

He looked back at Leo, looked at the distance separating them, and made a silent request with his eyes. To Leo, he looked kinda constipated, but it was—and you'd have to put him under torture for him to admit it—rather endearing, like a kicked bulldog begging for forgiveness for something that wasn't his fault.

Leo visibly relaxed his stance and patted the spot beside him on the bed. Frank bounded across the room and sat down next to him, keeping a respectful distance but still close enough.

Leo raised his hands, halting halfway through, curling his fingers a few times before finally taking the toy from Frank's hands. "You have to be trapped first, you know"

Frank nodded, trapping his fingers as Leo held the cuffs in his hand. He could feel it through the material. It was really warm.

"Okay, the whole idea of this thing is that the more you fight it-" He let go of the toy and grabbed Frank's hands instead, making him jump. He pulled both hands apart as much as he could, seeing the cuffs stretch and tense. "-the more difficult is to solve. But if you just stop fighting and let go…" Leo then pulled Frank's hands together, until his fingers touched inside the trap. He let go and instead held the trap in place, letting Frank slip his fingers free. "Ta-da"

Frank rubbed his fingers, looking at the harmless trap in Leo's hand. "That was easy"

Leo returned the cuffs to him, leaning back to sit against the wall. "You said it was an excuse"

"Ah" Frank remembered having said that. "I thought that…maybe if I had a reason to come talk to you…"

"You wanted to talk to me?" Leo asked, tilting his head. "In private" That wasn't a question.

"I wanted to apologize" Frank breathed out. "I haven't exactly been the nicest person"

"Nobody is" Leo shrugged. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't like me. Some people agree I'm kind of an asshole"

"No, you see, that's the thing. You're not. You are actually kind of nice"

Leo stood abruptly, socked feet skidding along the wooden floor. Frank only stared in surprise as he opened his closet and started moving stuff around, suddenly very busy.

"Would you look at the time! I promised Festus a change of oil and he gets cranky if his joints are squeaking, you know? This has been rather nice, Zhang, but I have to change into my dirtiest, rattiest clothes for this task and I'd appreciate some privacy, isn't it dinner time anyway? You should go get some food, you look pale. Go to the nursery or something"

It was the worst excuse Frank had ever heard for kicking someone out, but then it had to be if Leo was in such a hurry to get him out of his territory. Frank nodded, even if Leo's back was facing him, and stood to leave the room.

He had barely touched the handle when Leo's face peeped over the corner, catching his attention once more.

"I…thank you, for coming by" He said in a small voice, muffled by the open door blocking his view.

Frank nodded, making his way out of the room.

He caught a glimpse of cinnamon curls before the door across the hall slammed close, a giggle coming from the inside making him blush as he made his way to his own room. Hazel wouldn't let him live it down.

* * *

Leo seemed to be making a lot of life-changing discoveries in a very short time, it seemed.

First, it was finding out the reason Hazel seemed to act so weird around him; but then again, that his great-grandfather had been her boyfriend of sorts decades ago certainly made things clearer. Hazel just couldn't help feeling confused around him because, if her words were to be believed, Leo was like Sammy both physically and mentally, the only real difference being that Sammy had been a Beta and thus less likely to be on guard around her.

The second big discovery was learning why Frank was so wary of him. That had been an interesting conversation.

They had been trapped underwater, in a bubble made from oxygen that had caused Leo's fire to get out of control for a second, but it had been enough for Frank to jump away from him. Leo had been rather offended, considering they seemed to have made progress back in the ship, until Frank mentioned something about a piece of firewood. Hazel elaborated later on about the little stick being Frank's lifeline, and how fire in general made him nervous out of fear of it burning down completely, even if Hazel was the one carrying it now.

Leo couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit happy at being trusted with something so important for them.

And there had been a third, little piece of information that kept going around his mind. It had been just before Frank telling him about the firewood, but it was by far the one that Leo remembered most.

Leo had tried talking to Frank about how he just wanted to be friends with Hazel, that he wasn't trying to make a move on his girlfriend. Frank's reaction had not been what he'd anticipated.

"I don't mind. You getting close to her, I mean" He had blushed down to his neck, like he was the one on fire instead. "I wouldn't mind getting to know you better either"

And getting to know them, he did. It seemed like from that point on, every single time one of them had to go on a little mission, the other two would come along. Getting stuck in that underwater camp, and then going underground to try to find where Hazel's brother was being held hostage.

Well, there had been some talking in that last one, at least until the point the Alphas had been knocked out by eidolon-possessed machines and Leo had had to break open Nemesis fortune cookie to get them all out of there alive. They'd managed to escape, but found out Nico wasn't there after all.

Turned out Nico had been rescued by Percy, Jason and Piper while they escaped the underground, the son of Hades still unconscious by the time they were all aboard the ship and sailing away.

It had been a busy couple of days, all in all.

* * *

Nico was such a tiny thing, Leo couldn't help but feel a pull towards him. The ones from the crew who knew him always described him as short and thin and extremely pale; the Nico laying in the couch in front of him looked more like a dehydrated green grape. He absently remembered how Nico had been technically dead the whole time he spent in the jar, and the sudden urge to curl around him overcame him like it hadn't since the time he was around his pack back in camp.

Hazel was sitting with him, pillowing his head on her lap as he mumbled in his sleep, taking deep breaths of the clean air he'd been deprived of for so long. The blanket Piper had wrapped like a cocoon around his body prevented him from falling down from the way he kept wiggling.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Leo asked Hazel, his voice not a whisper but softer than anyone had ever heard him.

She didn't seem to know what to say. "He's going to be better than he was back there, at least"

They were keeping watch on him until he woke up; Hazel because she felt it was her duty, and Leo because…well, just because. Frank had been there too, but he'd left a few minutes ago to grab food from the kitchen in case he woke up.

Now that they were headed to find Annabeth to where she should be retrieving her mother's statue, Percy seemed all the more focused on the trip, even going as far as volunteering to keep watch for monsters and keep the ship on route by himself. Jason and Piper were making him company, although the Beta's face let Leo know she'd been thinking of a completely different reason to leave the three of them below deck on their own.

Damn those children of Aphrodite.

Hazel spoke once more. "Leo, about before, with the eidolons"

"Yes?"

"Are you in debt to Nemesis now?"

Leo pursed his lips. He was. He had used the stupid cookie and now every moment of his life could turn out to be a form of payment. He was in for a life of bad luck for all he knew.

"I'm sorry" Hazel said. "We should've been more cautious. If we had noticed we were being attached—"

Leo cut her off. "There was nothing to be done, Haze" He reassured her. "Funny thing with Greek prophecies; they always become true. Nemesis gave me that cookie because she knew I'd end up using it. I just had to decide when"

"But you heard what she said, she'd choose the price later. You don't know what could happen to you"

It broke Leo's heart to see her so concerned. He felt guilty. She had no obligation to feel worry about him, they had barely known each other for less than a week! She had enough worries of her own, what with her boyfriend's life pending on a stick, and the whole being dead thing, and even her brother finally being back with her.

"Don't worry about it" Leo sat next to her on the armrest of the couch, patting her shoulder. "There's someone who needs your attention more than me right now"

Hazel bit her lip, slowly turning her gaze back to Nico. He seemed to have settled in a normal breathing pattern, and had stopped moving in his sleep.

Frank came back with a tray, carrying enough food and coffee to keep even a child of Hypnos awake for more than two hours. Leo moved to sit on the loveseat on the other side of the coffee table, leaving the spot next to Hazel free for Frank to sit on. He blinked at the Alpha when he opted to sit next to him on the tiny sofa rather than next to his girlfriend.

Hazel giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Are you comfortable, Frank?"

Frank blinked, not realizing the hidden meaning in her question. "Yeah, this cushion's pretty soft" He burrowed back further as if to prove his point. Leo was mortified, glaring at Hazel as she tried to hold her laughter. Frank wasn't exactly small, and it was pretty much impossible for him to sit where he was without invading Leo's space. His latest move just made it seem like he was cuddling up to the Omega.

When Frank started sniffing the air, Leo wanted to die. "Is anyone baking cookies?"

Hazel seemed to smell it too, but her nose was pointed straight at Leo. "Don't know what you're talking about"

"Yes you do. It smells sweet" The Alpha kept sniffing the air, going over the food he'd brought with him while Hazel tried her hardest not to snort at how red Leo was getting. It wasn't his fault his scent glands were going nuts; he wasn't used to Alphas straight up getting so close to him, much less an Alpha he actually kinda—

"Do I smell coffee? Please tell me I smell coffee" Jason's voice coming from the hallway broke the little moment they were having, and all three of them reacted differently; Hazel groaned at the fun being over, Leo sighed in relief while his scent settled down, and Frank was overall very confused as to where the cookies had gone and why Hazel was pouting. Did she want cookies too? He would share with her.

Percy and Jason almost threw themselves at the food, tearing away at what they could reach. Piper followed behind, ripping away an avocado sandwich from Jason's mouth and taking it with her.

"Hey, I thought you guys were upstairs?" Hazel asked as she tried to keep her legs away from the table in case Percy or Jason though it was food as well.

"Yeah, but turns out none of us had had anything to eat since breakfast, so we came down for a bit. Festus is keeping watch for a few minutes" Piper said, leaning against the back of the couch Leo and Frank were sitting on. She ruffled Leo's curls as she took a bite of her food.

Percy had stopped his foraging to check on Nico. He seemed almost afraid to touch him, so he opted to check the rise and fall of his chest and the movement of his eyes under his eyelids. "How's he doing?"

"He seems a little better" Hazel answered. "He must feel he's in a safer environment now"

"He's so tiny" Jason commented, sniffing the air around Nico. It smelled stale and a bit of sickness, but the unmistakable scent of an Omega was still strong underneath. A submissive Omega alone with a pair of murderous Giants for a week. He knew Nico could fend for himself from the stories he'd heard, but the idea still made him feel queasy.

"He was frozen in time for like 70 years" Percy said. "And the last 3 years he's been travelling alone or living in the Underworld. It must have been hard for him to grow up"

He finally gathered enough courage to go ahead and touch his face, brushing his dirty bangs away from his face.

In that moment, Nico woke up.

Everyone jumped back at the sudden movement of his eyes opening, eerily similar to how a vampire of an old movie would wake up. His eyes were hazy and his pupils blown wide, constricting quickly as he adjusted to the light. He tilted his head back to look at Hazel, who was holding his cheek and petting his hair. He blinked owlishly at her, and then surveyed the room, looking as if he was still dreaming.

His eyes swept over everyone, lingering on Percy for a moment before moving to Jason, then Frank, then Piper, then Leo. Back to Jason. Frank. Jason. Frank.

His pupils dilated once more, and in a second every Alpha in the room was on the floor, covering their noses at the overwhelming scent that exploded from Nico, while Leo jumped over the table to pick the bundled demigod up and carry him away to his room.

Piper stood there where she was, watching the door Leo had run off through, once more thanking the gods she couldn't fall for whatever had happened just now.


	7. Chapter 7

The next couple of days passed by in a whirlwind of a missing couple of Omegas, a bunch of Alphas aimlessly walking around, and a very exasperated Beta who was just trying to make sure her best friend didn't die of inanition or something from locking himself away in his room after kidnapping Nico.

Leo had told Piper what Octavian had told him about Romans not having Omegas among them, which made an awful lot of sense when she found Hazel in her room, permanently fixed behind her half-opened door, staring intently at Leo's as if he were to come out and make another impromptu party.

Frank and Hazel had no idea what had happened when Nico woke up and knocked them down with his mere scent; Jason didn't know much either but he'd seen his share of stuff at Long Island were Omegas were a-plenty. Piper wished Annabeth was back from her mission so she could help educate the Alphas, but she was on her own, with a bit of help from Jason and a surprisingly knowledgeable Percy and Annabeth's own library.

They explained the concept of 'pseudoheat', an explosive release of stress pheromones resembling those of a normal heat but with the function of creating an escape route for the Omega who emitted it after a particularly traumatic event. It would last as long as it took for the person to calm down, which could go from hours to weeks or even months. Except that, in the presence of Jason and Frank, unknown Alphas too close to him, Nico had blown out another kind of pheromones; a kind similar to a pupped Omega's, which prompted a protective reaction from either familiar Alphas, or a dominant Omega.

Leo had just been the first to grab a hold of him.

Percy or Hazel might as well have gotten up in time to reach him, but Leo was surprisingly fast and didn't give them the chance to.

Now he'd be locked in his room for the remainder of however long it took Nico to wake up from his self-induced sleep. It would've been a problem if Leo wasn't also incredibly foresighted. He'd somehow built a system in which a small hole in the wall could transport anything from the dining room to _his_ room, even if they were located in the same floor and in opposite extremes of the hall.

This prompted Hazel to stop her constant watch on Leo's door, to spend her worries preparing whatever she thought Leo and Nico would need to send it in; food, water, clothes, toiletries, books. She made sure to keep them well provided.

Frank wasn't too far behind, taking over the usual chores Leo had around the ship, keeping an eye on the engine and trying to decipher Festus words by turning into a dragon himself, even if he spoke in creaks and squeaks. He'd also occasionally stop by Leo's door, trying to figure out what was going on inside by trying to scent the air.

Leo had built his room airtight.

Frank grumbled in displeasure, and moved on.

* * *

Inside the room, Leo was having mixed feeling about not having built a window in his room.

On one side, the air was suffocating. Heavy with the intertwined scent of Nico's slowly receding heat, and his own with which he was trying to cloak the other's scent from the outside, even if he knew nothing could get out—or in.

On the other hand, if any of that had gotten to the outside world, he would have either a ship surrounded by monsters, or a room filled with overly-worried Alphas.

He didn't know which possibility was worse.

He'd changed Nico out of his clothes into a pair of his own pajamas, the ones he didn't use when he slept down by the engine in his dirty tank top and shorts; and refrained on trying to give him a bath to save the kid some privacy. Nico spent the night thrashing around in his sleep, muttering and trying to grab for a sword that wasn't strapped to his belt.

His little hole in the wall kept getting filled with food and drinks, and other objects he would take advantage of when his mind got clear of the haze keeping him awake to keep watch on Nico 24/7.

A book had arrived the next morning with breakfast, and it had in it the lingering scent of rich soil that seemed to haunt Hazel. The cover said something about geology, but Leo couldn't pay much attention with the familiar scent taking over his senses and lulling him into a conscious rest. He'd really like to be able to fall asleep, maybe in one of the couches in the dining room, with something—someone (big and warm next to him, a hand running through his hair; small and warm, but calloused from the constant training with a _spatha_ ).

The days and nights blended into each other, especially without a window to tell the movement of the sun and the passing of time. Nico would open his eyes from time to time, just enough for the brown of his irises to be visible, and Leo would take the chance to sit him up and hold a bottle of water or a spoonful of food to his mouth. He made a mental note that he seemed more responsive to mashed potatoes.

And even though Nico was using most of the bed, there were moments when his temperature would drop dramatically from the lack of movement and the poor oxygenation in the room, and Leo would have to get on the bed and cuddle with him, barely enveloping his slightly taller form around Nico to keep his shivers at bay. Leo could get a few minutes of non-sleep until Nico started warming up and his restless wriggling would push him back off the bed.

It was in the second day that Leo finished his book, and in the same day he got to leave his room.

He was startled when Nico whimpered in his sleep, and Leo put the book down to kneel next to him on the bed, hovering slightly over his form as he settled down, then stilled, then his eyes started fluttering open.

Like the first time he woke up, Nico's eyes were blown wide, face blank as he registered where he was and who was around him. He must have understood Leo was the only one around, that he was not a threat, and that his body and mind had healed enough to go back to normal. He blinked until his face recovered expressiveness, looking up at Leo who was still hovering over him as he checked out that everything was fine-and his brow furrowed.

The next thing Leo knew, there was a fist colliding with his left eye.

* * *

"Leo, you're ba—Woah!" Jason shouted as Leo entered the control room. His cry of surprise originating from the deep blue-black of Leo's severely inflamed eye and the bloody cut on his cheek.

"Morning" Leo muttered, walking pass him and patting the control panel a couple of times. Festus roared happily at the greeting and it made Leo crack a smile, followed by a wince of pain at the stretch it put on his injuries.

Jason was fussing over him instantly. "Man, what happened?!"

Leo shrugged. "Nico woke up"

"And he did this?" Jason asked, eyes squinting.

Leo growled low in his throat, a high-pitched sound similar to an angry cat's. Jason's attention jumped back to him immediately. "It's fine. He's disoriented"

Jason sighed, brushing Leo's hair back to get a better look at his eye. "Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts, Wonder Boy. I'm glad he didn't break my nose"

Jason tutted, turning Leo around and pushing him out of the room. "Let's go, I'll patch you up. Percy!"

A faraway _'What!'_ answered. Seemed Percy was taking advantage of the pool.

"Take over the helm!"

A splash, then a whoosh, and Percy was standing there, completely dry and pulling on a sweatshirt.

"You need a potty brake, Grace?" He teased, then noticed Leo was there. "Holy shit"

"Hi"

Jason pushed Leo forward once more. "I'm taking him downstairs, I'll be back soon"

When Jason finally had Leo still enough to check his eye, Leo was barely able to keep himself sitting up straight. The mix of having spent most of the past week awake, and the non-stopping questions coming out of Jason's mouth were overloading his senses and tiring him out faster than he'd liked. He tried to answer as much as he could _("No, he didn't try to attack me. Yes, it was instinctual. No, I'm not pressing charges"_ ), hissing every now and then from the alcohol being dabbed around the couple of scratches running down his cheek from where Nico's nails had caught after punching him.

Jason made him pop in a square of ambrosia and insisted on being his crutch to get him upstairs. Leo didn't want to be babied; he wanted to find a place to lie down and sleep—his room was out of commission for a few hours as he ventilated the place, so the next best option was the lounge, or Piper's room. Apparently Jason thought it was about time he spent some time with the group, and hauled him over to a couch.

Nico was there as well, covered in no less than every blanket in the ship, frowning at the plate of cookies in front of him as Hazel berated him about something.

Piper brought a tray over and set it in front of Leo. "Morning Mommy, you look like shit"

"I love you too" Leo mumbled as picked at the sandwich on the tray.

Jason sat next to him. "Woah, déjà vu" He said. "I felt like we've had this exchange before"

"That's the textbook definition of déjà vu, Superman" Leo said between bites of food.

His eye looked a lot better already, a sort of mustard yellow instead of purple and his scratches were completely gone. Someone cleared their throat from behind the couch, making all three of them turn around.

Nico was looking at them with an expression very much like a disgruntled kitten. His scrunched up face and deep scowl lost under the cocoon of blankets surrounding him still. The fact that the trio were all complete strangers to him didn't make his stance any friendlier.

Leo turned around on his spot. "Uh, hi"

Nico looked him in the eyes, pursing his lips. He turned to look at Hazel, a clear expression of _do I really have to do this_ crossing his face. Hazel raised her eyebrows at him, pointing emphatically at Leo with her chin. Nico rolled his eyes.

"'m sorry, about your eye and all that" He grumbled. The hood the blankets made around his head fell back and he yelped, dropping his makeshift protection in an attempt to grab at it.

Hazel was now standing beside him, blankets clutched firmly in her hand. "That's not all, is it?" She said.

Nico huffed, crossing his arms and looking at the floor. There was silence for a moment, Jason and Piper looking at each other in wonder while Leo started poking Jason's side, eyes never leaving Nico. Jason either understood the message or got bothered by the poking, and as soon as he got up from the couch Nico took his spot next to Leo.

Hazel then caught Jason and Piper's attention and silently cued them to follow her away from them, giving them space.

Nico shuffled a bit in his seat, feeling Leo's silence and unblinking gaze weight down on him. He sighed. "…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to punch you. I didn't know who you were"

"You still don't" Leo said, stretching his hand. "Hi, Leo Valdez, Ship Commander Extraordinaire"

Nico stared for a moment before shaking his hand, a little smile tugging at the corner of his mouth for a second. "Nico di Angelo, hi"

"Nice to formally meet you, kid. You hungry?"

As Leo shoved all the items of his tray into Nico's hands without a second thought, Nico kept apologizing. About getting them forcibly locked up, about not letting him sleep, again for the punch, and for needing Hazel to push him forward to apologize. Leo had never heard anyone say 'sorry' to him so many times in his life.

"The last thing I remember before waking up was being in Tartarus, getting chased by giants, and then I open my eyes again and you're just…hovering on top of me. I didn't have time to think"

Leo shrugged. "Don't worry man, I forgive you. I mean, I probably would've done the same" He stopped a second. "Actually, your hair would've been on fire, most likely"

Nico snorted, and Leo could've sworn he heard Percy choking up laughter from the other side of the room.

Things seemed to be getting better.

* * *

Things were definitely not getting better.

After managing to track down Annabeth and recover the statue, the series of events that followed sent everything to Hell.

Or more specifically, Percy and Annabeth fell down to it.

The rest had barely managed to make it into the ship before the entire floor collapsed under their feet, Leo and Hazel pulling Nico along as he still tried to reach into the shadows and pull them out, a desperate whine clawing at his throat as he was dragged inside.

Leo brought him up to the control room with him, where Nico just crumbled to the floor and hid his face in his hands.

"I could've reached them, I could've pulled them out!" He shouted, muffled by the barrier of his hands. "I was right there!"

"Buddy, look" Leo said, his focus on moving the ship away from the city. "I'm not exactly the best guy to tell you this, but you need to calm down"

Nico didn't seem to hear him. "We can't leave them there, we have to go back!" He scrambled to his feet and paced the room. "I barely didn't lost my mind, I won't let them go through it too"

"Nico, sit down" Leo ordered, voice turning stern.

"I'm going out"

Leo pulled a lever down hard enough it smacked against the panel, startling Nico into place.

"I said. Sit. Down"

Nico stared at him like a deer in the headlights, not moving an inch. Leo was still busy with the controls, but his eyes were fixated on Nico, wide and unblinking. It was such a weighty gaze Nico felt his legs giving way and he was back to sit on the floor, not breaking eye contact.

Leo pressed a final sequence and walked over to him, kneeling on the floor in front of him.

"I don't even know how it's like falling to Tartarus, and to be honest I don't wanna find out, but what I know is that you're not going back there, much less alone. Capisce?"

Nico exhaled deeply. "Capisco"

Leo snorted. "I didn't think there was an answer for that"

"There's one in Spanish isn't it?" Nico replied, tension starting to sleep from his face. "They're not so different"

"We gotta try having and italo-hispanic talk someday"

"We could make the others believe we're talking shit about them"

"Nico di Angelo, this is the beginning of a beautiful thing"

Nico laughed breathily, rubbing his eyes. He was feeling much better now. Leo tried to ruffle his hair but stopped when Nico flinched. Alright, no touchy then.

Hazel found them a while later, sitting still as Leo showed Nico how to make a few origami figures—a little trick to calm down. She stood near the door for a while, hiding as she just looked at them interact. If she had a phone she would be recording it to show Frank.

"Hey, is Leo there?"

Oh, Frank was here.

Hazel brought a finger to her lips, shushing him and pointing to the room. He peeped in next to her.

Leo was piling paper cranes on top of Nico's head while he tried to get his own right. He was so focused he either didn't notice Leo's snickers or he purposefully kept his head still and let him be. When Nico managed to finish a really crumpled, really asymmetrical crane, he shoved it in Leo's face so fast all the ones on his head fell cascading into his lap. By the look on his face it was obvious he hadn't noticed them at all, scooping them up and throwing them at Leo's face as the latter fell back in hysterics.

Frank made a sound like a dying whale and clutched his shirt. "I can't take this anymore"

Hazel pulled him along with her away from the room. "So are we finally on the same page here?"

Frank sighed, nodding. He was smiling though, which prompted a fist bump from Hazel. "Alright, but we're still in the middle of a quest. Let's keep it low for now"

She nodded enthusiastically, jumping up and down and grinning.

Because even if they had to make it a background thing, they'd finally agreed that yes, they would start properly courting Leo Valdez.

* * *

"Hey Frank, Buford came back with your clothes" Leo knocked on the door, holding the huge bundle of clothes against his chest with some difficulty. The door opened and Frank let him in the room, which seemed to be in the middle of getting a late spring cleaning.

"Thanks. I'll, uh, take those from you" Frank said, lifting the pile from Leo's arms before he could have the chance to drop them on the floor.

Leo patted his hands once they were free, looking around the room. It was a carbon copy of every other room but, just like the rest, it had been decorated accordingly to its resident. A quiver was resting against the bedside table, while the bow was laying on the desk. A bunch of knick-knacks and clothes were on the bed while the floor and shelves were being cleaned. It smelled like soap. Frank picked up a mop, catching Leo's attention.

"The mess was piling up" Frank explained. "It was getting uncomfortable"

Leo hummed. "Then it's a good thing I did your laundry"

Frank blinked at him. "You did?" He looked at the clothes he'd put on the bed with the rest. They were definitely cleaner than when Leo took them for bait.

"Yeah, to apologize for taking them without asking and stuff"

"Oh…thank you"

Leo stuck hooked his thumbs in his belt, shrugging his shoulders. "It's whatever man. Anyways, gotta go, I'll be down by the engine if you need me or something" He turned around and made his way out, flashing a peace sign before disappearing from sight.

As soon as the door closed, Frank dove for the bed, picking up one of his shirts and carefully bringing it up to his nose. It was really subtle, barely there, but some of Leo's scent had stuck from him carrying it around. Frank decided it wasn't enough, and decided to just lie face down on top of the pile of clothes. He almost purred in contentment. Much better.

If he finished cleaning his room and found a good excuse to get Leo to spend more time in there, just enough to get his scent to mingle with the things in the room, maybe it would make him more receptive to accept the courting. Hazel had started cleaning her room as well, with the advantage that hers was across from Leo's and he spent a good deal of the day walking past her open door to go to and from the engine. She also had in her favor that Leo liked her, enough to not have to wonder why she would like to spend more time with him. Frank? He was another thing altogether. He had to put his act together and try to make up for all the times he'd treated Leo poorly. It would be an extra effort on his part…

But he was sure it would be worth it the end.


End file.
